butter up

British  

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to flatter

---

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]

---

Example Sentences

A UK attempt to butter up the French leader, perhaps?

From BBC • May 17, 2025

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

Meantime, staffers at Rikers Island are apparently eagerly awaiting Weinstein’s arrival from Bellevue and say they won’t be giving him any special treatment — no matter how much he tries to butter up the guards.

From Fox News • Feb. 25, 2020

“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