as in brownnoser
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a transparent apple-polisher whose fulsome praise fooled no one
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apple-polisher
Noun
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Oswald’s realm and his penguins and his minions and his passion.—
Jack Smart,
People.com,
3 June 2025 -
His minions burst into federal office buildings, humiliating staffers.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
31 May 2025
Noun
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Water, shellfish and unwashed fruits and vegetables can also harbor infectious parasite eggs.—
Bill Sullivan,
The Conversation,
28 May 2025
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The woman, whose name is redacted from the fire department’s report, said her friend Giancarlo decided to use a lighter to remove the blood-sucking parasite.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
20 May 2025
Noun
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There was a significant interaction between gender and audience type, suggesting that, say, female romance fans might respond differently than male friendship fans.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
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The world of Dropout feels a little like being a Harry Potter fan before J. K. Rowling got Twitter.—
Jesse David Fox,
Vulture,
2 June 2025
Noun
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Courtesy of Lucasfilm On an isolated farm at the outer reaches of a fascist empire, a mid-level government toady interrogates his victims.—
Jake Kleinman,
Wired News,
23 Apr. 2025
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The anecdote illustrates the contrast in competence and grasp of real world dangers between Reagan’s team and Trump’s toadies — and also between these presidents themselves.—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Step 2: Remove Cleaning Residue To gently remove residue, use a microfiber cloth, Swedish dishcloth, or soft sponge.—
Shivani Vyas,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 June 2025
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Don't clean marble with brushes, scouring pads, or scrubber sponges.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
28 May 2025
Noun
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Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.—
Maureen Dowd,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
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Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
22 July 2024
Noun
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As Joe Biden tottered and fell (literally as well as metaphorically), more than a few pundits compared him to Lear, a man who was ruined by age, pride, and the flattery of sycophants.—
Tyler Austin Harper,
The Atlantic,
16 May 2025
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Nobody advertises for sycophants, but often recruiting and interview processes can favor candidates who are agreeable and whose thinking doesn’t conflict with the status quo.—
Roger Dooley,
Forbes.com,
13 May 2025
Noun
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One vessel was renamed the USS Robert Smalls after a former slave who aided the Union in the Civil War, and the other was restyled the USNS Marie Tharp in honor of a ground-breaking oceanographic cartographer, according to the New York Times.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
4 June 2025
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Canadians are the people who really fought and helped escaped slaves, remember the Underground Railroad went to Canada.—
J.M. Banks,
Kansas City Star,
3 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Apple-polisher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apple-polisher. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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