as in to fawn
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suck (up to)
Verb
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The flattery must forever escalate and grow more fawning, until every follower’s dignity is shorn away.—
David Brooks,
Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2026 -
The ordinary pleasures and frustrations of interdependence wither under fawning’s pathologizing scaffold.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But Thibodeau was never interested in being Tony La Russa and kowtowing to Reinsdorf or the management team of Gar Forman and John Paxson.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Jan. 2026
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Two years ago, she got fired from her $196,551 hack sinecure at the Cannabis Control Commission for not sufficiently kowtowing to the woke mob.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
22 Nov. 2025
Verb
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On Wednesday morning, well before the school run started, Mary Granlund was attempting to coax her dog outside for a brief walk in negative-two-degree weather, and her phone was already pinging with texts.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
31 Jan. 2026
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Quietly confident — In spite of all that, Waymo is confident that its vehicles won’t take too much coaxing to get used to London roads.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Her voice, languid and honeyed, can glide over sensual R&B, bouncing reggaetón, shimmering pop or nostalgic jazz.—
Isabela Raygoza,
Billboard,
16 Oct. 2025
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Those harmonies — simultaneously honeyed and gravelly, providing just enough support without overshadowing, yet so powerful and full of potential — echoes Whitten.—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
2 July 2024
Verb
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Some buttering up in your prompt can likely produce this.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
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Enter Rutte, who knew Trump from his time as Prime Minister, and who got to work buttering up the American president.—
Tom Nagorski,
Time,
18 July 2025
Verb
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In a bid to rekindle the couple’s honeymoon phase, Yasmin troubleshoots by wheedling a chief executive role for him at payment processing company Tender (run by Max Minghella‘s inscrutable puppet-master Whitney Halberstram), and throwing her husband a lavish costume party for his 40th birthday.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
18 Jan. 2026
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After wheedling some cash from him, while Noon rifles through his backpack, Win convinces him to stay and teach some lessons.—
Emily McClanathan,
Chicago Tribune,
24 July 2025
Verb
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Cash cajoled Leon Bailey into positions ahead of him, either shuffling backwards to mark Newcastle’s left-winger or shifting inside to track Lewis Hall, who was inverting from left back.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
26 Jan. 2026
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Her mentor, 2012-2020 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, cajoled the BOJ into cornering the government bond market and becoming the biggest owner of Tokyo stocks.—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Once, Maye idolized Cam Newton.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
26 Jan. 2026
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Her polished fashion sense, marked by sophisticated, minimalist pieces and a neutral color palette, has been idolized even decades after her death.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
31 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Suck (up to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suck%20%28up%20to%29. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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