apple polisher
Fawning favor-seeker
An apple polisher is a person who curries favor through flattery or excessive attentiveness to authority figures—the type who brings the teacher an apple.
The term is mildly contemptuous, suggesting the behavior is transparent and self-serving: The other employees resented him as an apple polisher who always agreed with the boss.
Servile flatterer seeking favor
- toadyObsequious flatterer seeking favor
- suck-upOne who flatters superiors
- yes-manUncritical agreeable subordinate
- fawnerOne who flatters servilely
groveler · lickspittle · flunky · adulator · hanger-on · lackey · minion · doormat
Excessive insincere flattery
- obsequiousServilely attentive to superiors
- servileExcessively submissive, lacking independence
- subservientExcessively eager to obey
- deferentialShowing humble submission
ingratiating · groveling · kowtowing · bootlicking · brownnosing · flattering · schmoozing · sweet-talking
Excessively and insincerely earnest
- smarmyInsincerely ingratiating
- oilyCovered in grease
- slimyWet, slippery, unpleasant
- slickSmooth or craftily adept
glib · phony · disingenuous · two-faced · hypocritical · false · artificial · superficial
Coldly self-serving in strategy
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
- schemingCrafty and calculating
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
- craftyCleverly deceptive
strategic · opportunistic · self-serving · ambitious · social climbing · networking · angling · positioning
brownnoser
Servile flatterer seeking favor
- toadyObsequious flatterer seeking favor
- suck-upOne who flatters superiors
- yes-manUncritical agreeable subordinate
fawner · groveler · lickspittle · flunky · adulator · hanger-on · lackey · minion · doormat · pushover
fawning
Excessive insincere flattery
- obsequiousServilely attentive to superiors
- servileExcessively submissive, lacking independence
- subservientExcessively eager to obey
deferential · ingratiating · groveling · kowtowing · bootlicking · brownnosing · flattering · schmoozing · sweet-talking · currying favor
unctuous
Excessively and insincerely earnest
slick · glib · phony · disingenuous · two-faced · hypocritical · false · artificial · superficial · insincere
calculating
Coldly self-serving in strategy
crafty · strategic · opportunistic · self-serving · ambitious · social climbing · networking · angling · positioning · careerist
- smooth talkerssmooth talker, smooth-talker, sweet talker, sweet-talker, fast talker
- teacher's petsbrown noser, suck up, favorite, teacher's pets, grade grubber
- goody two-shoesteacher's pet, suck-up, do-gooder, saint, angel
- hangers-onhanger-on, tagalong, leech, parasite, freeloader
- fakesfake, fakes, counterfeit, counterfeits, imitation
- snobssnob, elitist, snoot, prig, highbrow
apple polisherrebel
Authority defier
troublemaker · nonconformist · maverick · contrarian · rabble-rouser
apple, polished, polishing, applesauce, apple-polishing, polisher, polishes, bootlicker, brown-noser