as in fussing
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 bootlicking
Its mission was to upset hierarchies, not reinforce them, and few things were more offensive to comedians than bootlicking.
—
Robert Lynch, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
Call it the bootlicking trickle-down-effect.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026
Robert Lynch, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
Call it the bootlicking trickle-down-effect.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bootlicking
Verb
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Ever the dedicated mother, Stacy runs to her adult daughter’s aid, fussing at her for not using a driver for her errands.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
13 Mar. 2026
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Your son is fussing in his car seat.—
Elizabeth Bruenig,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2026
Verb
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And yet art-world institutions—including major museums, schools, commercial galleries, and publishing outlets—have mostly avoided the fawning capitulation of universities and Democrats, simply going quiet in the hope of escaping notice for the next three years.—
Katy Siegel,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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But neither of the prior proposals had the political backing of the governor, who has spent more than a year generating headlines and fawning conservative media coverage behind the idea of eliminating property taxes — a concept that could be a launch point for another presidential run.—
Lawrence Mower,
Miami Herald,
27 May 2026
Verb
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It’s known to cause drooling, diarrhea, colic, abdominal pain, depression and even death if your dog isn’t promptly treated.—
Amy DeYoung,
USA Today,
28 May 2026
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Fans are already drooling over them.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
15 May 2026
Verb
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What distinguishes Camper, at least musically, is his deference to classic R&B signifiers without kowtowing to pastiche.—
Steven J. Horowitz,
Variety,
27 Apr. 2026
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After all, the series largely avoids other topical issues of modern campus life, from freedom of speech restrictions to administrators kowtowing to autocracies.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bootlicking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bootlicking. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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