to kiss up
16
7.9
- phrasal verb
- /kɪs ʌp/
- Informal
:
hacer la pelota (a alguien) (informal)
- I will not kiss up to my boss.
- kissing up to the boss
- try to kiss up
- just kissing up
And when you manage up, there's always the hierarchy above you don't, don't kiss up, manage up.
- And when you manage up, there's always the hierarchy above you don't, don't kiss up, manage up.
- They're all kissing up to him or to the queen, trying to get closer, trying to get access to the king.
- The narcissistic provocateur either surrounds themselves with sycophants and acolytes like kiss people who kiss up to them.
Examples
-
Instead, he kissed up to the zealots and loons and got utterly embarrassed in a blowout of epic proportions.
Blog text (8) -
I will not "kiss up" to my boss.
Blog text (30) -
Why am I kissing up to this guy?
-
I kissed up to him, I got the permit.
-
So, maybe you think I'm just kissing up and trying to get on her good side.
Blog text (19) -
They're all kissing up to him or to the queen, trying to get closer, trying to get access to the king.
-
Instead of backing me up, his wife, he's kissing up to the old man.
-
Hey, I'm not kissing up to the brass, but I've seen the way other facilities are run.
Blog text (25) -
Mind you, I'm not going to kiss up to these ladies and go uber-feminist to get in their good graces.
Blog text (4) -
If you want to get promoted, you need to kiss up to your manager more often.
Synonyms
100
3.6
Praise someone with words you do not mean to get their help
26
8.0
To praise someone to get their approval
25
7.7
Act very friendly and praise someone to gain their favor
23
5.3
To persuade someone by saying nice things to them
13
4.2
Say nice things to someone to get what you want
10
8.2
Try to make someone like you by praising them or doing kind things
10
7.4
To try to get someone to like you by praising them or being too helpful
9
8.6
To talk in a friendly way to make people like you and get an advantage
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
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
8.1
To speak very kindly to someone to get something from them
1
8.0
Try to make someone like you by giving fake praise or acting friendly
To please someone with too many compliments to get a favor
To give praise that is not real to get a favor
To act friendly to someone to get what you want
To praise someone too much to get their favor in a rude way
Praise or act very friendly toward a boss to get something for yourself
Antonyms
How Sycophantic
- Informal
26
8.0
- Informal
16
7.9
10
8.2
100
3.6
95
1.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
kiss + up
Although the words 'kiss' and 'up' are familiar, the idiomatic meaning 'to flatter or ingratiate oneself' is a metaphorical extension rather than a directly compositional combination of the constituents. Learners might guess a general sense from context or from similar cross-linguistic idioms (e.g. 'kiss someone's ass'), but the specific slangy sense and particle usage are not fully predictable, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Kiss up The phrasal verb kiss up comes from a clear image: someone offering kisses or praise and moving up toward a person in charge to win their approval. So kiss up means 'to praise or flatter someone to get an advantage'.