butter up
verb
buttered up; buttering up; butters up
transitive verb
: to charm or beguile with lavish flattery or praise
Synonyms
- adulate
- belaud
- blarney
- flatter
- hero-worship
- honey
- massage
- overpraise
- puff
- soft-soap
- stroke
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
a flunky who shamelessly butters up the boss
Word History
First Known Use
1819, in the meaning defined above
buttering up 1 of 2
noun
as in soft soap
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- soft soap
- butter
- fawning
- sweet talk
- endearment
- praise
- sycophancy
- taffy
- flattery
- toadying
- cajolement
- ingratiation
- acclaim
- applause
- charming
- incense
- enticement
- allurement
- exhortation
- adulation
- tempting
- coaxing
- influencing
- seduction
- massaging
- flannel
- swaying
- overpraise
- entreaty
- wooing
- cajolery
- courting
- smarm
- urging
- blarney
- romancing
- lobbying
- wheedling
- prompting
- overpersuasion
- beguilement
- blandishment
- charm
- pressuring
- commendation
- brainwashing
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- depreciation
- detraction
- disparagement
- belittlement
- bad-mouthing
- put-down
buttering up
2 of 2verb
as in honeying
to praise too much a flunky who shamelessly butters up the boss Synonyms & Similar Words
- honeying
- massaging
- stroking
- commending
- praising
- congratulating
- applauding
- belauding
- blarneying
- puffing
- flattering
- overpraising
- blandishing
- hero-worshiping
- sucking (up to)
- coaxing
- soft-soaping
- adulating
- wooing
- cajoling
- fawning
- complimenting
- kowtowing
- wheedling
- hero-worshipping
- idolizing
- toadying
- extolling
- eulogizing
- worshiping
- felicitating
- endearing
- slavering
- lauding
- worshipping
- ingratiating
- romancing
- sweet-talking
- gushing
- slobbering
- courting
- drooling
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- putting down
- disparaging
- depreciating
- belittling
- decrying
- bad-mouthing