as in brownnoser
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a transparent apple-polisher whose fulsome praise fooled no one
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apple-polisher
Noun
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Tatlin scholarship is whispery on his time in Kyiv, for the excellent reason that Stalin’s minions torched most evidence of it.—
Jackson Arn,
The New Yorker,
10 Mar. 2025 -
But the largest driving force behind the return-to-work mandates, suggest the early scholarship, is CEOs feeling lonely without minions.—
Dan Vergano,
Scientific American,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Banner tells Whitfield that he’s lost his sheep herd to parasites, and Whitfield has the nerve to laugh.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
2 Mar. 2025
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Animals of all shapes, sizes, and evolutionary lineages engage in behaviors that ward off parasites, viruses, and harmful bacteria.—
Gabe Allen,
Discover Magazine,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Football fans love the idea of the clean break, the fresh start, and the new era that is unlike anything that has come before.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
The Athletic,
22 Mar. 2025
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Friend mourns fellow sports fan, avid journalist After working for several years as a reporter for various publications, his friend said, Sharkey started his own media venture with the help of his longtime friend Snapp.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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This won’t end well, especially in a no-guardrails administration staffed by a how-high team of enablers and toadies.—
Bret Stephens,
The Mercury News,
13 Mar. 2025
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But a moment later, after he’s swatted down one of the two new toadies at Beck’s kitchen table for making a lewd remark about Annette, his senses seem newly awakened.—
Chris Klimek,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The cushions have a two-inch thick sponge interior that is plush yet supportive, and they’re covered in removable, water-resistant fabric cases.—
Shea Simmons,
People.com,
11 Mar. 2025
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Glass sponges are found along the deep sea, providing a hiding place for small critters along the seafloor.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.—
Maureen Dowd,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
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Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
22 July 2024
Noun
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What may be worse is that a gaggle of sycophants and groupthink team members underneath the Dark Empath—the direct reports—create a ruthless echo chamber for the king or queen at the top of Mt. Stupid.—
Dan Pontefract,
Forbes,
11 Mar. 2025
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Of course, Veep’s sycophants, buffoons, and backstabbers bear little resemblance to the vanguard of our latest regime.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Yet this trust was soon eroded as slave rebellions increased throughout the Americas, and, in 1802, Black Americans were banned from carrying mail until Reconstruction.—
Sarah Prager,
JSTOR Daily,
12 Mar. 2025
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Galveston’s past closely mirrors New Orleans', with ports on the Transatlantic slave route that served a large swath of the American South.—
Mariah Tyler,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Apple-polisher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apple-polisher. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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