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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But practically speaking, this vodka mixes easily and well without having to fuss too much.—
Jeff Burkhart,
Mercury News,
15 Oct. 2025 -
By re-creating the relevant latent representations, and not the missing pixels of earlier systems, the model learns to see the cars on the road and not fuss about the leaves on the trees.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Naturally, the post attracted over 16,000 comments of women drooling over him.—
Essence,
Essence,
20 Oct. 2025
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Flores will drool across the Irish Sea this week at the thought of welcoming a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start.—
Jason Lloyd,
New York Times,
28 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But there were – among the fawning compliments and the conviction an elusive peace was near – bits of good news for Ukraine.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
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Especially Jeanie, who remembered how her father, Jerry Buss, had fawned over Davis during Davis’s Kentucky days.—
The Athletic NBA Staff,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Apple-polish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apple-polish. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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