butter up

Thân thiện

She tried to butter up her boss before asking for a raise.

Definition

Verb: - To praise or flatter someone excessively, often with the insincere intention of gaining a favor, advantage, or something from them.

Usage

This phrasal verb describes the act of using insincere compliments to manipulate someone. It implies a calculated effort to make someone feel good so they are more likely to agree to a request. It is often used in informal contexts.

Examples

• Verb:
  • He's trying to butter up the boss in hopes of getting a promotion.
  • Don't think you can butter me up with compliments; I know you want to borrow my car.
  • She buttered up her parents by cleaning the whole house before asking for money.

Advanced Usage

• "to butter someone up": The typical structure, where the object (the person being flattered) comes between "butter" and "up."
• The action is often transparent to observers, carrying a connotation of obvious and self-serving flattery.

Variants and Related Words

• Buttering-up (noun): The act or process of flattering someone excessively.
  • His constant buttering-up of the manager was obvious to everyone in the office.

Synonyms

• Flatter: To praise someone excessively, especially from motives of self-interest.
• Suck up to (idiom, informal): To behave obsequiously towards someone to gain favor.
• Brown-nose (slang): To curry favor through obsequious behavior.
• Cajole: To persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(This word is itself a phrasal verb.)

Related Idioms

• Soft-soap (verb, informal): To use flattery to persuade someone.
  • He tried to soft-soap his teacher into giving him an extension.
• Sweet-talk (verb): To persuade someone by saying nice things, often insincerely.
  • She can sweet-talk anyone into doing what she wants.

Học thuật

Verb

1. flatter with the intention of getting something

Từ đồng nghĩa

• brown-nose