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Synonyms

suck up to

British  

verb

  1. informal to flatter for one's own profit; toady

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
suck up to Idioms  

  1. Behave obsequiously towards, ingratiate oneself with, as in Now that he's the boss they're all sucking up to him, hoping to get big raises. [Vulgar slang; mid-1800s]

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.

He returned it to King Charles II for his coronation, probably to suck up to royal favor again.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2023

“Your job is not to suck up to power, it’s to serve your viewers and readers by getting to the truth,” Mr. Carlson said.

From Washington Times • Mar. 21, 2023

Excuse me for a minute while I suck up to my boss.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 27, 2022

By the time it came out, he had correctly sussed out the most advantageous ways to suck up to the president by paying attention to the most minute details.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2022

Archie doesn’t like it when people try to suck up to him too hard.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz

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.