brown-noser
1
8.3
- noun
- /ˈbraʊnˌnoʊzər/
- Offensive
:
pelotillero
- Even the good little brown-noser people at Politico have written, "What is surprising is hearing a candidate say, essentially, 'stop hitting me.'"
Examples
-
She is such a brown-noser; she always flatters the manager to get ahead.
-
Hey you called me a brown-noser, remember?
-
- Once a brown noser, always a brown noser.
-
No one likes a brown-noser, Mr. Martinez.
-
At the meeting, everyone knew he was just a brown-noser trying to impress the boss.
-
No one respects a brown-noser who only seeks favor through flattery.
Synonyms
17
9.3
A person who praises someone important to get favors
3
4.2
A person who gives fake praise to get someone's favor
3
9.9
A person who flatters someone in charge to get favors
2
9.6
A person who flatters someone in power to get favors
1
9.9
A person who praises someone in power to get benefits
1
8.7
A person who flatters someone in power to get favours
A person who praises people in charge to get things they want
A person who flatters people in charge to gain favor
A person who praises a boss to get a favor
A person at work who praises their boss too much to get favors
A person who behaves very humbly to please others or avoid trouble
How Obsequious
- Offensive
8
9.0
- Offensive
2
9.6
- Offensive
17
9.3
- Offensive
1
8.3
3
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
brown-noser = brown-nose (semi-transparent) = brown + nose + er
The agentive formation from the verb 'brown-nose' is regular, but the idiomatic meaning of 'brown-nose' and the role of 'brown' are not semantically obvious.
Etymology
Brown-noser joins brown and nose to make a vivid picture: one popular story says it comes from the idea of someone putting their 'nose' so close to a leader's 'behind' that it gets 'brown'. So, a brown-noser is someone who flatters people in power to get favor.