Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sucking (up to)
Verb
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Ben spends the afternoon buttering up Ellie and praising her cake-icing skills, and even gives her the task of decorating the wedding cake.
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The preview for The Muppet Show reveals special guest Sabrina Carpenter buttering up Miss Piggy backstage.
Verb
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Pelley’s fawning interview with then-president Biden tells a different story.
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Along for the ride is his fawning, idiotic buddy Stevie (Steve Little).
Verb
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The things museums collect are often obstinate and unyielding; research and context can be a way of coaxing them to speak.
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Ryan started strong, coaxing an Ohtani lineout to right on the game’s first pitch, then striking out Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman.
Verb
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What distinguishes Camper, at least musically, is his deference to classic R&B signifiers without kowtowing to pastiche.
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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.
Verb
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After years of lobbying, cajoling – virtually pleading – state lawmakers back in 2024 finally granted the state Lottery an online presence.
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Nearby, a group of teenage boys try their luck on a slackline over a pool six-and-a-half-feet deep before cajoling each other up to the cliff diving platforms.
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.
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Cite this Entry
“Sucking (up to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sucking%20%28up%20to%29. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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