suck up
Ingratiate oneself obsequiously
To suck up is to curry favor through excessive flattery or obsequious behavior: He's always sucking up to the boss.
A suck-up is a person who does this habitually.
The image suggests drawing something toward oneself—attention, approval, advantage—through undignified means.
The phrase carries contempt for both the behavior and the person engaging in it.
brownnose
Excessive flattery for advantage
- curry favorSeek approval through flattery
- fawnYoung deer, or flatter
- toadyObsequious flatterer seeking favor
bootlick · kowtow · grovel · apple-polish · schmooze · pander · sycophant · flatterer · yes-man · lackey
- flatteryflatter, praise, flattery, compliment, compliments
- absorbsoak, sponge, imbibe, blot, saturate
- office politicsoffice politics, backstabbing, power plays, favoritism, nepotism
- sycophantssycophant, sycophants, toady, toadies, bootlicker
- teacher's petsapple polisher, brown noser, favorite, teacher's pets, grade grubber
- conformityconformity, conforming, conform, conformist, conformism
suck updefy
Resist or challenge openly
rebel · stand up to · talk back · challenge · push back
suck upput down
Insulting remark meant to diminish
look down on · lord over · condescend · belittle · disparage
up, suck, sucker, sucking, suckers, suckle, sucked, sucks, suckling