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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Sadly, perhaps much of what the Oscar winner is doing here will be lost in the blowback the unsweetened Trump critic will undoubtedly be subjected to from the MAGA minions and their kingpin in the days to come.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
20 Feb. 2025 -
Welles later said a Hearst minion had tried, unsuccessfully, to frame Welles by sending a 14-year-old girl to his hotel room.—
John Semley,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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In addition, old nests can also harbor parasites and pathogens that might be harmful to the birds.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
7 Mar. 2025
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These real-world parasites have inspired everything from horror movies to the hit HBO series The Last of Us, which envisions a future where a mutated Cordyceps fungus jumps to humans.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The actor is a longtime fan of the French soccer team.—
Hannah Malach,
WWD,
10 Mar. 2025
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Yet for the legions of O’Neill fans eagerly waiting for the journalist to expand on the theories introduced in his book, the film probably won’t be satisfying.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Most Americans don’t get it either, or why previous senators backing Ukraine have become toadies to Trump’s outrageous claims against the Ukrainians.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Mar. 2025
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After Zelenskyy wouldn’t genuflect, Trump got toadies Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz to ask the Ukrainian to leave.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Scrub with a sponge or dishcloth, using a Mr. Clean Eraser for tough spots.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
28 Feb. 2025
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Björk’s infamous 2001 Oscars swan dress takes flight as a delicate pavlova with passion fruit ganache, while Jennifer Lopez’s game-changing green Versace number appears as a tropical coconut mousse with pineapple-lime chutney on pistachio sponge.—
Ritu Upadhyay,
WWD,
28 Feb. 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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But little is known about what that girl and her family would have grown to eat in the slave quarters.—
Cynthia R. Greenlee,
Bon Appétit,
28 Feb. 2025
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The metropolis was populated by the aquatic descendants of pregnant African women who had been forced onto slave ships.—
Annalise Frank,
Axios,
27 Feb. 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 14 Mar. 2025.
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