suck-up

A student who is a suck-up always raises their hand first in class.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who flatters others for personal gain: "suck-up" refers to an individual who uses excessive praise or ingratiating behavior to gain favor, especially with someone in a position of authority, such as a teacher, boss, or superior.
   • A sycophant or toady: It describes someone who acts obsequiously, often in a school or workplace context, to win approval or advantages.

Usage Examples

• (A person who flatters the boss for favor.)
• (A person who acts ingratiatingly in a school setting.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be a suck-up": to habitually flatter others for personal benefit.

  • She is such a suck-up to the principal; she always volunteers to run errands. (She consistently ingratiates herself with the principal.)

• "suck-up behavior": actions that demonstrate excessive flattery.

  • His suck-up behavior at the meeting annoyed everyone. (His sycophantic actions were irritating.)

Variants and Related Words

• Suck up (verb phrase): to flatter someone excessively in order to gain favor.

  • He tried to suck up to the professor by agreeing with everything she said. (He attempted to ingratiate himself through flattery.)

• Suck-up (adj, informal): describing something characteristic of a sycophant.

  • That was a suck-up comment; it didn't add anything real to the discussion. (A comment made purely to flatter.)

Synonyms

• Sycophant: a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important to gain advantage.
• Toady: a person who flatters others in a servile way.
• Brown-noser (informal): a person who flatters someone in authority for personal gain.
• Kiss-up (informal): someone who flatters excessively, especially to a superior.

Related Idioms

• Kiss up to someone: to flatter someone excessively for personal benefit.

  • He's always kissing up to the boss by bringing him coffee. (He flatters the boss in a sycophantic way.)

• Brown-nose: to curry favor by flattery or servile behavior.

  • She brown-nosed her way into the promotion. (She gained advancement through sycophancy.)

Phrasal Verbs

• Suck up to someone: to try to please someone in authority by flattery or doing favors.
  • The intern sucked up to the CEO by praising his speech. (The intern flattered the CEO for favor.)