butter up

British  

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to flatter

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butter up Idioms  

1. Excessively praise or flatter someone, usually to gain a favor. For example, If you butter up Dad, he'll let you borrow the car. This term transfers the oily, unctuous quality of butter to lavish praise. [c. 1700]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

butter up

These packages, which often run into thousands of dollars, attract many celebrities and corporate buyers who see the Games as a chance to butter up clients or reward top performers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

At the center: six cinnamon rolls that a candidate alleged had been used to butter up voters during the tight mayoral race in October.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2023

To get ahead, you can make the marinara base and roasted garlic butter up to a couple days before.

From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2022

The company’s prepaid Connect plans launched in 2020 and were part of T-Mobile’s efforts to butter up regulators to allow its massive merger with Sprint to go through.

From The Verge ● Mar. 21, 2022

“That, my boy, is the front-page article for tomorrow’s paper. Or at least it will be if I can butter up the head editor.”

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros