brown-nose
verb (used without object)
to curry favor; behave obsequiously.
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brown nose
brown nosenounvet science a form of light sensitization in cattle
brown-nose
American
[braun-nohz]
/ ˈbraʊnˌnoʊz /
verb (used without object)
brown-nosed,
brown-nosing
verb (used with object)
brown-nosed,
brown-nosing
noun
brown-nose
1
British
verb
noun
brown nose
2
British
noun
brown nose
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of brown-nose
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.
See Examples For:
To them, it feels like yes-men have been replaced by skeptical employees who are more likely to shred them on Reddit or Glassdoor than to brown-nose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
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
Challedon went into the lead; halfway down the backstretch Kayak caught him, poked his brown nose farther & farther ahead as they streaked along against a backdrop of autumn foliage.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dowie she saunters down Nithside, And ay a westlin leuk she throws, While tears hap o’er her auld brown nose!
From The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham by Robert Burns
"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
“Well, you’re just brown-nosing now, Victoria!” says Miss Bouman.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
