as in to fuss
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
the kind of office in which people feel they have to bootlick in order to get ahead
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Recent Examples of bootlick
Those who delay this fate the longest are bootlicking mediocrities — the survival of the sycophants.
—
Michael Gerson, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Mar. 2018
Michael Gerson, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bootlick
Verb
-
No crying or fussing or squirming.—
Danielle Pergament,
SELF,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Really good, and if you’re not fussed about mod cons or hybrid tech, one can be sat on your driveway for just £18,850 ($24,388).—
Matthew MacConnell,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Xi became China’s most powerful political figure in half a century by promoting a new Chinese nationalism—not by kowtowing to anyone, least of all the president of the United States.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
11 Apr. 2025
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And Smoke and Stack are too suspicious to kowtow to these gate crashers.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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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
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Hamlet’s toadying friends, the hangers-on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are Izzard’s own talking hands, popping up to face her like a pair of Muppets.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
11 Feb. 2024
Verb
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Pay attention for signs of distress: panting, drooling, a high heart rate, dry nose, lethargy, or even vomiting, staggering or seizures.—
Kate Bradshaw,
The Mercury News,
3 Mar. 2025
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The most-common ones include vomiting; diarrhea; lethargy; loss of appetite; drooling; tremors or seizures; difficulty breathing; and pale gums.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
Newsweek,
26 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Unless Trump’s art of the deal is all about truckling to Putin.—
Maureen Dowd,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
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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
Verb
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Lots of people coming, knocking on his door, fawning, hoping for a good deal.—
Terry Gross,
NPR,
9 Apr. 2025
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Lots of people coming, knocking on his door, fawning, hoping for a good deal.—
Terry Gross,
NPR,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bootlick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bootlick. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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