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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Others might tell you that hosting an awards show is a thankless gig, but Bargatze doesn’t seem fussed.—
Lacey Rose,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Sep. 2025 -
This was the mid 1980s and tandem skydiving hadn’t been popularized yet, so his father, Roger, adjusted accordingly by stuffing carpet padding into the leg pads to stop him from fussing.—
Angelina Liu,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Thank you to this show for giving us so many things to drool over every season.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
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Symptoms may begin within minutes, which include heavy drooling—especially in cats—and redness on the skin and in or around the mouth.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Rob Reiner is back as fawning filmmaker Marty DiBergi, with cameos including Elton John, Questlove and Paul McCartney.—
Chris Foran,
jsonline.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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And power structures everywhere reinforce, reward even require fawning.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 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 18 Sep. 2025.
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