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Synonyms

bootlicker

American  
[boot-lik-er] / ˈbutˌlɪk ər /

noun

  1. someone who seeks favor or goodwill in a servile, degraded way; toady.

    He comes across as a facile bootlicker, someone who would do anything like a lapdog to please somebody in the chain of command.

Etymology

Origin of bootlicker

boot 1 ( def. ) + lick ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That caught Mr. Lee’s ear: “The suggestion that I’m beholden to either party, that I’ve been a bootlicker for either party, is folly,” he protested.

From New York Times • Oct. 17, 2022

His name gave us the English word "quisling": it means a lackey, a traitor, a bootlicker.

From BBC • Aug. 14, 2021

I am not a democrat and I am not a bootlicker.

From Time Magazine Archive

Even the stinker who has no ambition but to duck work can recognize a deserving man, and will burn if that man is bypassed in favor of a bootlicker or some other lightweight.

From The Armed Forces Officer Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-2 by United States. Dept. of Defense

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.