brown-noseverb [ I ]
uk/ˈbraʊn.nəʊz/us/ˈbraʊn.noʊz/informalto try too hard to please someone, especially someone in a position of authority, in a way that other people find unpleasant:
The rest of the class were sick of watching him brown-nose.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Praising insincerely or too eagerly
- arse-licker
- bow and scrape idiom
- crawler
- creep
- cupboard love
- fawn
- flatter
- flattery will get you nowhere idiom
- glad-handing
- grovel
- idealize
- ingratiate
- left-handed compliment
- massage sb's ego idiom
- obsequious
- play up to sb
- schmooze
- servile
- slobber
- unctuous
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