butter up
Lay it on
To butter up someone is to flatter them, usually to gain favor or get something you want.
The image is of spreading butter generously to make something more palatable: He's just buttering up the boss for a promotion.
The flattery implied is typically excessive or insincere.
- flatterPraise to please
- complimentWords expressing approval
- ingratiateSeek another's approval
- sweet-talkFlatter to persuade
- soft-soapPersuade through flattery
brown-nose · grovel · praise · curry favor · kiss the ring · toady · suck up · smooth-talk · turn on the charm · play up to · make nice · stroke someone's ego · cajole · apple-polish · kiss up · blandishment · fawn over · kowtow
- food idiomspiece of cake, bread winner, low-hanging fruit, cool as a cucumber, bad egg
- flatteryflatter, praise, flattery, compliment, compliments
- persuasion tacticscharm, flattery, flatter, coax, manipulation
- sycophantssycophant, sycophants, toady, toadies, bootlicker
- fawn overgush, dote, adore, worship, idolize
- persuasionpersuade, persuasion, persuasive, convince, convincing
social manipulation vs. antagonism
butter upantagonize
Incite hostility in
alienate · offend · rub the wrong way · get on someone's bad side · provoke
butter, buttery, buttered, buttering, butters, unbuttered, buttering up, buttered up