suck up meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

suck up

verbalso spelled suck-up

To absorb (fluid).

Often, Slang, With to To adulate or flatter (someone) excessively, generally to obtain some personal benefit or favour.

Jimmy sucked up to the English teacher hoping he would get an A.
And in between sips of Coke / He told me that he thought we were sellin' out / Layin' down, suckin' up to the man / Well now I've got some / Advice for you, little buddy / Before you point the finger / You should know that I'm the man / I'm the man and you're the man / And he's the man as well1996, “Hooker with a Penis”, performed by Tool:

Slang To fellate (someone).

Synonyms: apple-polish, bootlick, bow and scrape, brownnose, butter up, dickride, duchess, fawn, fawn over, fellate, flannel, honey around, honey up, kiss someone's ass, kiss someone's ring, kiss up, kowtow, lick someone's ass, lick someone's balls, overflatter, overpraise, overrate, suck up, toady
Antonyms: answer back, argue, bully, disobey, dominate, domineer, persevere, sass, stand one's ground, talk back
Related terms: crawl, creep, grovel, sycophant, sycophantic
Hypernyms: adulate, flatter, obey, schmooze
Hyponyms: outfawn, overfawn, soft-soap, wheedle

noun

/ˈsʌkˌʌp/

Etymology Deverbal from suck up.

Derogatory, Informal A person who sucks up, or plays up through adulation or flattery or other such devices to win another's favour; a brown-noser.

Dulcie was already holding Lidiaʼs hand, and she didnʼt even know her! What a suck-up.2005, Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl, Bloomsbury, page 139: