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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The bigger question is whether Ratner’s proximity to power will compel an industry already willing to kowtow to the president to officially welcome Ratner back.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
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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
Verb
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Renée coaxed a complete sentence.—
Richard Greenberg,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
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Maye has done both without much coaxing this postseason.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 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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The film follows Antoine (Moore), who idolizes his father, a charismatic gambler.—
Kennedy French,
Variety,
30 Jan. 2026
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Once, Maye idolized Cam Newton.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
26 Jan. 2026
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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 11 Feb. 2026.
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