as in sycophant
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
surrounded himself with brainless brownnosers, so no wonder the company went down the tubes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brownnoser
Noun
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Hypocritical Democrats and their sycophants in the media are rushing to evade blame for inciting political violence in the country including the latest assassination attempt of President Trump.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
28 Apr. 2026 -
Republicans in Congress have become spineless sycophants to a president who only sees the beauty of this country in dollar signs.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
His embrace of Trump‘s endorsement and refusal to admit that Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election expose him as a toady.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
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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
Noun
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The result of this dynamic tension of bootlickers, according to Bernhard’s narrator, is the perpetual elevation and official anointment of mediocrity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Feb. 2026
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If all goes to hell and America devolves into a rank dictatorship, beware the bootlicker.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Or a suck-up move to the Trump administration and its ridiculous claims against the media?—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
4 Dec. 2025
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Like many digital beings, Reps, as Replika’s avatars are known, are engineered to be agreeable, nonjudgmental, and zealously supportive—i.e., suck-ups.—
Patricia Marx,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
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
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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
Noun
-
Your president and his minions spread war, chaos, lies and economic instability.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Scott Quigley, a loyal minion of yet another septuagenarian Democrat hack DA, Marian Ryan of Middlesex County.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Miles nearly sent the 10,821 fans home happy.—
Mike Cook,
Twin Cities,
10 May 2026
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And yet the city is filled with fans of the New York Knicks.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
10 May 2026
Noun
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Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 novel is the story of the rise and fall of a Southern populist, the Louisiana governor Willie Stark—a fictional Huey Long (even if Warren downplayed the likeness)—as told by Stark’s wisecracking, anguished, Hamlet-y henchman, Jack Burden.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
12 May 2026
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When the newlyweds arrive home, they are attacked by Naz and his henchman (played by Matt Willig).—
Allison DeGrushe,
StyleCaster,
27 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Brownnoser.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brownnoser. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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