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.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2026 -
The preview for The Muppet Show reveals special guest Sabrina Carpenter buttering up Miss Piggy backstage.—
Ashley Iasimone,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2019
Verb
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Infantino’s gesture might strike people unacquainted with World Cup history as shamelessly fawning.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
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With the Republican Congress fawning at his feet, the ideal of democracy that the will of the people governs the nation is being buried under multimedia waves of the autocratic ambition of wealth.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Langford had the equalizer in the bottom frame, coaxing a walk, which preceded an Emma Rodwell single.—
Mike Waters,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 Mar. 2026
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Like a dinner host coaxing guests to try unfamiliar fare, Bronin invited the town committee members to step away from Larson without guilt.—
Mark Pazniokas,
Hartford Courant,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
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The public demand was made based on a social media post from right-wing journalist Laura Loomer, who pointed to a video in which Rice vowed to hold companies accountable for kowtowing to Trump if Democrats regain power in the federal government.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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And six years later, Donovan is still prodding and cajoling the forward to crash the boards and control his dribble and contribute physically to the game.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
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Europe has long underspent on defense, and where American cajoling for decades had not worked, a few face slaps succeeded.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
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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Cite this Entry
“Sucking (up to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sucking%20%28up%20to%29. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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