brownnose
verbEtymology From brown (“a scatological reference”) + nose.
1
To flatter someone (especially a superior) in an obsequious manner, and to support their every opinion.
- Related terms
- brown noser
brownnose
nounEtymology From brown (“a scatological reference”) + nose.
1
Figuratively One who sucks up; a bootlicker or sycophant.
- A workmate reported the matter, "which is why the worker threatened to beat up the latter," calling him a "brownnose" and threatening to "wipe the floor with him."1997, Ulrich Herbert, Hitler's foreign workers: enforced foreign labor in Germany under the Third Reich, Cambridge University Press, page 126:
- 'I know, he's a natural brownnose. I guess he does have some talents.'2007, Felicity Young, An Easeful Death, Fremantle Press, page 13:
1 more example
- You don't have to be such a brownnose, at least not to me.2010, Joseph Morse, Gods of Ruin: A Political Thriller,, page 46: