as in to curry favor
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
a departmental supervisor who apple-polishes shamelessly whenever higher-ups are about
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apple-polish
Verb
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The world saw this five-man group as an ideal of friendship, a community working and living together, fussing and fighting but making rough beauty out of it.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
21 Jan. 2025 -
Palmieri also has a 16-team no-trade list but, like Nelson, certainly should not be fussed about being moved to a Cup contender for a few months.—
Arthur Staple,
The Athletic,
16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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And more than 130 people said their therapist fell asleep during therapy — sometimes going so far as to start drooling or snoring.—
Christina Caron,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2025
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Art Deco is enticing in art and in theaters, not so much in a home with drooling pets and messy toddlers.—
Amanda Lauren,
Forbes,
19 Dec. 2024
Verb
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But what does our contemporary obsession — both spiteful and fawning — with Brutalism say about our wants and needs as a society at this moment?—
Anna Kodé,
New York Times,
22 Feb. 2025
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Throughout the interview, Hannity was friendly and his questions were mostly fawning.—
Will Weissert,
The Denver Post,
19 Feb. 2025
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“Apple-polish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apple-polish. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
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