as in to fuss
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
the kind of guy who truckles to anyone who might present a lucrative opportunity
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Recent Examples of truckle
Unless Trump’s art of the deal is all about truckling to Putin.
—
Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
Garbarino enjoyed his time with the Southern river rats and mountain folk, and their refusal to truckle to authority delights him to this day.
—David Samuels, Town & Country, 18 Oct. 2013
During the campaign, most of Trump’s fallen rivals blasted him in exceptional terms—before truckling to support him against Hillary Clinton.
—James Fallows, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2017
Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
Garbarino enjoyed his time with the Southern river rats and mountain folk, and their refusal to truckle to authority delights him to this day.
—David Samuels, Town & Country, 18 Oct. 2013
During the campaign, most of Trump’s fallen rivals blasted him in exceptional terms—before truckling to support him against Hillary Clinton.
—James Fallows, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for truckle
Verb
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As Harper, from Queensland, Australia, pet Olive and stroked her face gently, her furious golden retriever, named Cub, sat upright and appeared to frown at his owner for fussing anyone other than him.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 May 2025
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Video footage of the animals shows the eagle fussing at the coyote and trying to chase it off.—
Amanda Kooser,
Forbes.com,
6 May 2025
Verb
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Now he’s put them in the position of appearing ridiculous in order to kowtow yet again to CTU.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
7 May 2025
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Where the refusal of the Ukrainian president to don a suit for the Oval Office becomes a public symbol of his refusal to kowtow.—
Vanessa Friedman,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Verb
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Fans and friends are fawning over the soft, warm-but-not-brassy ginger shade in her comments.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
9 May 2025
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The 2025 Met Gala red carpet has officially closed, but we’re not done fawning over A-listers’ looks.—
Nicol Natale,
People.com,
7 May 2025
Verb
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The Empire was a sinister, one-note shadow: faceless Storm Troopers, toadying fascistic generals, a cackling emperor, and of course Darth Vader, an enigmatic demon masked and cloaked in black.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
25 Apr. 2025
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The only other psychological need that rivals his thirst for toadying is the pursuit of .—
Matt Robison,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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There’s nothing wrong with ogling a juicy rack of ribs or drooling over a hunk of brisket slowly smoking over hot coals.—
Katie Rife,
EW.com,
11 May 2025
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In the painting Meaningless, 2003, for example, the words meaningless, senseless, and irrelevant eventually give way to blather, blabber, babble, then to drivel and drool, and, finally, to blah-blah-blah.—
Jeffrey Weiss,
Artforum,
1 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Truckle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/truckle. Accessed 27 May. 2025.
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