Sycophancy to dismay eccentric (8)
I believe the answer is:
toadyism
'sycophancy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'to dismay eccentric' is the wordplay.
'eccentric' is an anagram indicator.
'dismay' anagrammed gives 'adyism'.
'to'+'adyism'='TOADYISM'
I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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