to suck up
26
8.0
- phrasal verb
- /sʌk ʌp/
- Informal
:
hacer la pelota a
- She always tries to suck up to the manager by complimenting her outfits.
- suck up to the boss
- suck up to people
- try to suck up
And do I really think Donald Trump is trying to suck up to Putin?
- And do I really think Donald Trump is trying to suck up to Putin?
- Oh, I cannot wait for these people to suck up to me.
- I, I didn't know to how to articulate this, but I think in most big companies people are always sucking up to their bosses.
- You know Americans suck up to white rich men and that's why we have a President Donald Trump.
- But he is over there sucking up to the Middle East because of one thing, and that's money.
- But again, I mean, it shows the extent to which Zucker, Zuckerberg's mind, he has to or feels the need to suck up to a guy who is a brutal dictator.
Examples
-
I, I didn't know to how to articulate this, but I think in most big companies people are always sucking up to their bosses.
-
I'm like, are they just like sucking up or do they mean it?
-
Who you looking to suck up to, huh, girl?
-
Hey, it's not gonna be as easy for you to suck up to Creative Director, you know.
-
Of course, women have men who suck up to them like this.
Blog text (28) -
No, I'm going to have to go into the council and suck up one last time.
-
Heck, more than once, I had guys suck up to me just to get close to her.
Fiction book (2001) -
Why don't you go suck up to your Uncle Dave already?
-
You've spent your whole life with people sucking up to you!
-
He was just sucking up to you.
Synonyms
100
3.6
Praise someone with words you do not mean to get their help
25
7.7
Act very friendly and praise someone to gain their favor
16
7.9
Say nice things to someone to get their help or a reward
13
4.2
Say nice things to someone to get what you want
12
9.2
To behave very obediently to please a person in power
10
7.4
To try to get someone to like you by praising them or being too helpful
8
9.5
To try to please someone in power to get an advantage
6
7.0
To try to make someone like you for your own advantage, often in a fake way
4
8.2
To flatter someone in power without meaning it to get their favor
1
9.1
Flatter and obey someone in power to get their favor
1
5.5
Try to get someone's approval by giving false praise
1
8.0
Try to make someone like you by giving fake praise or acting friendly
1
8.7
To praise or obey someone in power to get their support
1
9.9
To act too obediently to someone in power
To give praise that is not real to get a favor
To please someone with too many compliments to get a favor
To act friendly to someone to get what you want
Praise or act very friendly toward a boss to get something for yourself
Antonyms
How Servile
42
7.4
- Offensive
4
8.2
- Informal
26
8.0
- Informal
13
4.2
100
3.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to try to gain favor by flattering' cannot be directly derived from the literal senses of 'suck' (to pull) and 'up' (toward a reference point); the social action is idiomatic and metaphorical rather than a straightforward physical composition. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words but has not encountered the expression would unlikely predict the flattering/servile sense, so this is opaque.
Etymology
Suck up may come from imagining someone 'sucking' praise or attention up toward themselves, as if pulling it in with a straw. That's why it means 'to try to gain favor by flattering someone'.