apple-polishers

noun

plural of apple-polisher
as in brownnosers
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead a transparent apple-polisher whose fulsome praise fooled no one

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for apple-polishers
  1. minions
  2. parasites
  3. fans
  4. toadies
  5. henchmen
  6. sycophants
  7. lickspittles
  8. sponges
Noun
  • There are references to demons, being burned alive, and the duende king explicitly commands his minions to kill Jo and Raissa.
    — Parents, Parents, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Musashi becomes part of a crew that fights the Genma and Yoshitsune’s minions.
    — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of minions
Noun
  • Continue reading … BROKEN COVENANT — Javier Milei blasts UN as 'useless' den of 'fatally arrogant parasites' in raucous speech.
    — , FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Analyzing mosquito waste showed the presence of viruses along with other parasites.
    — Devika Rao, TheWeek, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of parasites
Noun
  • Boise State fans are accustomed to their Broncos putting the rock into the hands of running backs and grinding down opposition defenses.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Through the first two weeks of the new season, the ratings results suggest that the NFL’s media partners have a firm grasp on what fans want to watch.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of fans
Noun
  • Rarely has a president been surrounded by such an array of toadies and lickspittles, operating beyond their competence in an atmosphere of organizational chaos.
    — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Like the most treacherous toadies from literature — Iago, Wormtongue, Tywin Lannister — Miller managed to shove aside rivals to latch onto his master’s ear and guide him toward more evil.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
Definition of toadies
Noun
  • One of the villain’s henchmen was a small, shaggy blue creature with a long drooping snout and a sour expression that lived in a cigar box.
    — Niranjana Rajalakshmi, Popular Science, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Bird himself provides the voices for Xavier’s alien henchmen, Gunsol and Musker.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of henchmen
Noun
  • For its sycophants, LIV Golf was a new flavor in the vanilla world of professional golf.
    — Brody Miller, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Our state is under siege by the skilled sycophants who surround the president and use his base desires as cover for their own destructive agendas.
    — Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of sycophants
Noun
  • Rarely has a president been surrounded by such an array of toadies and lickspittles, operating beyond their competence in an atmosphere of organizational chaos.
    — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Firmly in control of the nation’s massive federal apparatus, MAGA and its Republican lickspittles in Congress have thrived on chaos.
    — Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of lickspittles
Noun
  • For more than a century, scientists thought that sponges, or porifera, were the first to branch off — the sister group to all other animals.
    — Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 16 Sep. 2026
  • These non-scratch sponges are safe to use on most surfaces and are easy to rinse clean.
    — Brooke Knappenberger, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of sponges
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

apple-polisher
apple-polishers
apple-polishes
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Apple-polishers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apple-polishers. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tittle

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All