brownnose

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Noun

brownnose (plural brownnoses)

1. (idiomatic) One who brownnoses; one who sucks up; a bootlicker, ass-kisser, sycophant.
   • 1997 Ulrich Herbert, Hitler's foreign workers: enforced foreign labor in Germany under the Third Reich, Cambridge University Press, p126

     A workmate reported the matter, "which is why the worker threatened to beat up the latter," calling him a "brownnose" and threatening to "wipe the floor with him."

   • 2007 Felicity Young, An Easeful Death, Fremantle Press, p13

     'I know, he's a natural brownnose. I guess he does have some talents.'

   • 2010 Joseph Morse, Gods of Ruin: A Political Thriller,'' p46

     You don't have to be such a brownnose, at least not to me.

Synonyms

• brown noser

Verb

brownnose (brownnoses, present participle brownnosing; past and past participle brownnosed)

1. To flatter someone (especially a superior) in an obsequious manner, and to support their every opinion.

Related terms

• brownnoser, brown noser, brown-noser

Translations

• French: lécher le cul (vulgar), flagorner (literary), cirer les pompes (colloquial), lécher les bottes (colloquial)
• German: schleimen
• Italian: leccare il culo (vulgar), leccare i piedi, fare il ruffiano
• Russian: лиза́ть за́дницу
• Spanish: hacer la pelota, pelotear, lamer el culo

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