as in to fuss
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
the kind of office in which people feel they have to bootlick in order to get ahead
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Recent Examples of bootlick
Those who delay this fate the longest are bootlicking mediocrities — the survival of the sycophants.
—
Michael Gerson, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Mar. 2018
Michael Gerson, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bootlick
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
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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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Flattering, placating, and kowtowing only seem to spark escalating demands while defiance risks retaliation.—
Jeff Kingston,
Time,
4 Oct. 2025
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Pushback by viewers in Sinclair and Nexstar’s ABC markets, and the perception that the companies are kowtowing to the FCC chairman’s anti-liberal ideology, could be a factor to lead the companies to relent.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Empire was a sinister, one-note shadow: faceless Storm Troopers, toadying fascistic generals, a cackling emperor, and of course Darth Vader, an enigmatic demon masked and cloaked in black.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
25 Apr. 2025
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The only other psychological need that rivals his thirst for toadying is the pursuit of .—
Matt Robison,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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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
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Keong says these pillow protectors slide easily over her puffiest pillows, wash up well at the laundromat, and help prevent her new pillows from getting too drooled-on to be presentable for overnight guests.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Unless Trump’s art of the deal is all about truckling to Putin.—
Maureen Dowd,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
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During the campaign, most of Trump’s fallen rivals blasted him in exceptional terms—before truckling to support him against Hillary Clinton.—
James Fallows,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2017
Verb
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But on the scoreboard and perhaps in the eyes of football fans and perhaps even the still-fawning North Carolina administration?—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
16 Oct. 2025
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Since his birth in 2014, photos and videos of Denny have been shared on social media, with users often fawning over him and calling him sweet.—
Saleen Martin,
USA Today,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bootlick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bootlick. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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