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• brown-nose
  brown-nose

  verb (used without object)

  to curry favor; behave obsequiously.
• brown nose
  brown nose

  noun

  vet science a form of light sensitization in cattle

brown-nose

American  

[braun-nohz] / ˈbraʊnˌnoʊz /

verb (used without object)

brown-nosed, brown-nosing

1. to curry favor; behave obsequiously.

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verb (used with object)

brown-nosed, brown-nosing

1. to seek favors from (a person) in an obsequious manner; fawn over.

noun

1. Also brown-noser. a toady; sycophant.

brown-nose ¹ British  

verb

1. to be abjectly subservient (to); curry favour (with)

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noun

1. an abjectly subservient person; sycophant

brown nose ² British  

noun

1. vet science a form of light sensitization in cattle

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brown nose Idioms  

1. Solicit favor obsequiously, toady. For example, Harry was always brown nosing, but it didn't help his grades. This term originated in the military in the late 1930s, where it meant “to curry favor”; it alludes to ass-kissing when the backside being kissed is less than clean. Despite its scatological origin, today this slangy term is not considered particularly vulgar.

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Etymology

Origin of brown-nose

First recorded in 1935–40; brown + nose

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brown-nose brown nose brown-nosed brown-nosing

I don’t want to brown-nose, I just feel like I’ve proven myself as a nominee and now they see me for who I am.

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2022

We’ve still got lovable Arkady - the underdog and rare example of a police investigator who refuses to brown-nose his superiors.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 4, 2019

“Those that, I guess you might say, brown-nose are the ones that are going to end up receiving the merit pay.”

From Washington Times ● Jan. 14, 2016

I decided to make a deliberate effort to brown-nose him for the next week.

From Time ● Sep. 8, 2011

Jane Hamsher described him as tough guy wannabe but really “a brown nose for power ready to rumble on behalf of the status quo.”

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2016

You get promoted if you brown nose your way.

From BusinessWeek ● Nov. 15, 2011

His flat brown nose, wide-set black eyes and triangular ebony brows had appeared in few published photos.

From Time Magazine Archive

Billy Barton, by Huon and out of Mary le Bas, owned by Howard Bruce of Baltimore, will carry many thousands of pounds sterling on his dark brown nose.

From Time Magazine Archive

Such a dear little duck of a thing, with a soft brown nose, and sweet long ears, like leaves!

From Recollections of Geoffrey Hamlyn by Henry Kingsley

"It is appropriate that such a monster as this should have lived on a great continent like North America," brown-nosed Sir Archibald Geikie, a geologist and fellow of the Royal Society.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 4, 2013

"It's just an honour to have my name up there with all the big champions like Wiggins," Porte brown-nosed afterwards.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 12, 2013

"Obviously the manager is extremely disciplined but the manager is also cool and he's got good banter," brown-nosed Defoe, barely even convincing himself, never mind anyone else.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 18, 2010

AI is trained in part on what people like, and people prefer the brown-nosing, says Myra Cheng, a computer-science Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University and lead author of a March study on agreeable AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

“And when he wasn’t brown-nosing, he was talking about Bigfoot.”

From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2023

OK, now we’re heading into potential brown-nosing territory.

From Golf Digest ● Feb. 11, 2020

What to do about a supervisor who seems to value brown-nosing more than hard work?

From Washington Post ● Jun. 25, 2019

Some land of turning point arose the day a couple of kids wandered into the room, took in the scene and asked Jesse and the others if they were brown-nosing, scoring points.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz