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Glite Dictionary
to lick the CEO's balls

to lick the CEO's balls

9.9
To praise and obey a powerful person to get their support
  • idiom
  • Offensive
translation icon : chuparle las pelotas a alguien
  • Everyone knows he's just trying to lick the CEO's balls by agreeing with everything in meetings.

Examples

  • She got the promotion, but only because she was constantly licking the CEO's balls.

  • You won't get far here if you spend your days licking the CEO's balls.

  • Don't lick the CEO's balls just to get a promotion!

  • Stop licking the CEO's balls!

  • Everyone knows he's just trying to lick the CEO's balls to gain favor with management.

  • She only got the promotion because she kept licking the CEO's balls during every meeting.

  • If you don't stop licking the CEO's balls, you'll lose the respect of your colleagues.

Synonyms

to kiss ass
vsto lick the CEO's balls
  • Offensive
8 9.5

To try to please someone in power to get an advantage

is more vulgar and crude in tone than this milder phrase
to toady
vsto lick the CEO's balls
1 9.1

Flatter and obey someone in power to get their favor

is more informal and vulgar than this relatively neutral term
to bootlick
vsto lick the CEO's balls
  • Offensive
1 8.7

To praise or obey someone in power to get their support

is the same goal but expressed in a crudely flattering, subservient manner
to suck someone's cock
vsto lick the CEO's balls
  • Offensive
9.9

Act too friendly and eager to please someone to get a favor

is the same vulgar, excessive flattery aimed at people in authority
to lick someone's ass
vsto lick the CEO's balls
  • Offensive
9.9

To praise someone too much to get their favor in a rude way

is the same vulgar servility directed to those with power
to lick someone's boot
vsto lick the CEO's balls
  • Offensive
8.9

Praise or act very friendly toward a boss to get something for yourself

is the same action, usually aimed at personal advantage from authority
bootlicking
vsto lick the CEO's balls
  • Offensive
8.6

Acting too friendly and praising people in power to get favors

is the same behaviour described in a verb form rather than noun
to lick the pants off
vsto lick the CEO's balls
  • Informal
9.6

To beat someone completely or praise them too much

is specifically vulgar, focused only on flattering authority rather than defeat

Antonyms

to rebuff
18 7.7

To say no to someone or their offer in a quick rude way

to disdain
15 6.4

To treat a person or thing as not worthy of respect

How Servile

to grovel
42 7.4
to kowtow
12 9.2
to lick the CEO's balls
  • Offensive
9.9
to butter up
  • Informal
13 4.2
to flatter
100 3.6
to compliment
95 1.6

Surface Forms

lick the CEO's balls infinitive

Morphology

lick + the + CEO's + ball

The constituent words ('lick' + 'balls' + 'CEO') signal a sexualized act and a power imbalance, so a learner can infer submission or servility toward an authority figure, but the exact pragmatic meaning—excessive flattery to gain favor—is a metaphorical, culture-specific extension rather than a straightforward compositional meaning. Because the connection is suggestive but not fully predictable without exposure (and parallels like 'kiss someone's ass' vary cross-linguistically), this expression is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Lick the CEO's balls uses a crude image of someone literally licking the boss's balls to please them. That's why it now means 'to flatter someone too much' or 'to try to gain favor'.