Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sucking (up to)
Verb
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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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The flattery must forever escalate and grow more fawning, until every follower’s dignity is shorn away.—
David Brooks,
Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2026
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And Williams and Storrie, the show’s stars, have become one of Hollywood’s favorite duos, with even fellow celebrities fawning over them.—
Natalie Bennett,
NBC news,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Maye has done both without much coaxing this postseason.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
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The principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Huntington begins each practice session with long bow strokes close to the bridge, gently but firmly coaxing sound that will project to the back of the concert hall.—
Domenica Bongiovanni,
IndyStar,
4 Feb. 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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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
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Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina went along, Indiana did not -- despite cajoling and insults from the president and the possibility of primary challenges.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
12 Dec. 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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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 Feb. 2026.
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