curry favor

idiomatic phrase

: to seek to gain favor by flattery or attention

… eager to curry favor with superiors by reporting any trivial transgression.

—Robert Wallace and H. Keith Meltony

Instead of rolling back environmental regulations to curry favor with corporate interests, California has passed the toughest green laws in the nation …

—Alexander Nazaryan

Examples of curry favor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump’s term in office was marked by concerns that foreign governments sought to curry favor by patronizing his businesses, including his Washington, D.C., hotel. —Justin Elliott, ProPublica, 12 Sep. 2024

In January 2021, however, President Joe Biden had taken office, and once again, Abbas subordinated the needs of his people in an effort to curry favor with the new administration in Washington. —Khaled Elgindy, Foreign Affairs, 30 Aug. 2024

Mexico’s government claims to be in the dark about what is going on, while Zambada’s lawyer alleges his client was kidnapped by El Chapo’s son in a bid to curry favor with U.S. authorities. —Christian Orozco, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2024

The race to curry favor with the pro-crypto electorate coincides with the sector pouring tens of millions of dollars into key races. —Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Note: The idiom curry favor is an alteration by folk etymology of curry favell, Middle English core favele, currey favel "to use insincere flattery to gain personal advantage," literally, "to curry the fallow-colored horse," a translation of Middle French estriller/torchier Fauvel "to use trickery, deceive," literally, "to curry/clean Fauvel" ("the fallow one," as a name for a horse). Old & Middle French falve, fauve "brownish-yellow, light brown (of an animal's coat)" and its derivatives have the additional meaning "false, hypocritical," probably in part due to the similarity in sound to faux "false"; hence la fauve asnele (ca. 1170) "hypocrisy, falsehood" (literally, "the fallow ass"), fauvoier (13th century) "to deceive," Old Occitan falveta "art of beguiling." Fauvel and Fauvain as horse's names are the focus of various idioms, as estriller Fauvel "to curry Fauvel," that denote duplicitous behavior. In the satirical French poem, Roman de Fauvel, composed ca. 1310-16, a horse or donkey named Fauvel becomes king by the grace of Fortuna ("Lady Fortune") and, having taken possession of the palace stable, is curried and cleaned by the hypocritical nobility and clergy of the realm.

First Known Use

1557, in the meaning defined above