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Glite Dictionary
to honey up to

to honey up to

8.8
To please someone with too many compliments to get a favor
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈhʌni ʌp tu/
  • Informal
translation icon : adular
  • She decided to honey up to the manager in hopes of getting promoted.

Examples

  • It's obvious he's trying to honey up to the new teacher with all those compliments.

  • Don't honey up to me—I know when you're being insincere.

  • Don't honey up to the boss just to get a promotion!

  • She honeyed up to her teacher for extra credit.

  • It's obvious he's trying to honey up to the new teacher with all those compliments.

  • She decided to honey up to the manager in hopes of getting promoted.

  • Don't honey up to me—I know when you're being insincere.

Synonyms

to suck up
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
26 8.0

To praise someone to get their approval

is similar but stresses warmth and friendliness over servility
to fawn
vsto honey up to
25 7.7

Act very friendly and praise someone to gain their favor

uses excessive friendliness, not just submissive behaviour, to win favour
to sweet-talk
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
23 5.3

To persuade someone by saying nice things to them

is used to gain favor through friendly behaviour rather than only persuasion
to kiss up
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
16 7.9

Say nice things to someone to get their help or a reward

often shows excess friendliness rather than only calculated praise
to butter up
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
13 4.2

Say nice things to someone to get what you want

relies more on friendly manner together with flattery rather than only heavy praise
to ingratiate
vsto honey up to
10 8.2

Try to make someone like you by praising them or doing kind things

focuses on excessive friendliness and flattering rather than measured effort
to curry favor
vsto honey up to
  • US
10 7.4

To try to get someone to like you by praising them or being too helpful

relies more on flattery and friendliness rather than helpful actions
to cozy up
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
6 7.0

To try to make someone like you for your own advantage, often in a fake way

involves making someone like you, not only flattering words
to brown-nose
vsto honey up to
  • Offensive
4 8.2

To flatter someone in power without meaning it to get their favor

focuses on general attempts to win favor, not only with superiors
to toady
vsto honey up to
1 9.1

Flatter and obey someone in power to get their favor

is aimed at gaining favor broadly, not only from authority figures
to play up
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
1 5.5

Try to get someone's approval by giving false praise

uses excessive friendliness and warmth rather than brief insincere acts
to honey
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
1 8.1

To speak very kindly to someone to get something from them

relies on both excessive friendliness and flattery to win favor
to cotton up
vsto honey up to
  • UK
9.8

To act friendly to someone to get what you want

stresses excessive warmth and flattery rather than mere insincerity
to pour honey in someone's ear
vsto honey up to
  • Informal
9.9

Say nice words you do not mean to get something from someone

aims mainly to gain favor by friendliness rather than to deceive

Antonyms

to offend
524 2.8

Cause a person to feel hurt, upset and angry because of your words or actions

to alienate
123 6.7

To make someone feel alone and lose support from others

How Flattering

to brown-nose
  • Offensive
4 8.2
to honey up to
  • Informal
8.8
to butter up
  • Informal
13 4.2
to flatter
100 3.6
to praise
331 1.0

Surface Forms

honey up to infinitive
honeyed up to past
honeyed up to past participle
honeying up to present participle
honey ups to third person singular

Morphology

honey + up + to

The meaning 'to try to ingratiate oneself' is directly derivable from combining 'honey' (to speak sweetly or flatter) with the directional particle 'up to' indicating toward a person. This verb + particle + preposition composition is transparent and predictable (compare patterns like 'butter up'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings would likely infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb honey up to comes from the image of 'sweetening' someone with honey and moving up to them to get close. So, to honey up to someone now means to be very nice or flattering to get their 'approval' or help.