as in brownnoser
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a transparent apple-polisher whose fulsome praise fooled no one
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apple-polisher
Noun
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Besides being massively ignorant, Musk and his minions are drunk on ideology.—
Steve Chapman,
Chicago Tribune,
7 May 2025 -
Through their minions in the media, in Big Pharma, and woke teachers manipulating their children's minds, these elites hold an iron grip on society.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The unfortunate truth is that blueberries can carry all sorts of unwanted guests, from dirt and debris, tiny bugs like aphids or fruit flies, pesticide residue, bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, or Listeria, mold spores, and even parasites.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
18 May 2025
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That setting could help preserve it by protecting it from natural degradation caused by parasites and other organisms.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
15 May 2025
Noun
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Holland now hosts Survivor watch parties and other fan events with season 28 player Brice Izyah Johnston.—
Ale Russian,
People.com,
22 May 2025
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But Yang will clear up another SNL season 50 mystery that fans also spotted during a recent goodnights segment.—
Jillian Sederholm,
EW.com,
22 May 2025
Noun
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Courtesy of Lucasfilm On an isolated farm at the outer reaches of a fascist empire, a mid-level government toady interrogates his victims.—
Jake Kleinman,
Wired News,
23 Apr. 2025
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The anecdote illustrates the contrast in competence and grasp of real world dangers between Reagan’s team and Trump’s toadies — and also between these presidents themselves.—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The central pool has clusters of coral and sponges, attracting dozens of types of tropical fish.—
Erik Trinidad,
Travel + Leisure,
21 May 2025
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Benny’s presented as an overachieving sponge, absorbing contradictory messages about how he is supposed to live in society from both masc frat culture, which tells him to repress, and the relatively more progressive music and films he’s become obsessed with, which tell him to, uh, slay.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
15 May 2025
Noun
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Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.—
Maureen Dowd,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
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Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
22 July 2024
Noun
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The administration may be populated with sycophants and true believers, but Justice Department attorneys and Homeland Security officials are not stupid.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
18 May 2025
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There are still sycophants and acolytes, but no savvy producers to make his head-scratching moves appear to make sense.—
Laura Bassett,
Rolling Stone,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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President Donald Trump has stated that birthright citizenship — which his administration is trying to overturn in court — was originally intended for a narrow group of people: the children of slaves.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
15 May 2025
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The word cowboy itself was used in a derogatory way to describe the former slaves as 'boys,' ... destroying the negative connotation, what remains is the strength and resiliency of these men who were the true definition of Western fortitude.—
Alex Gonzalez,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Apple-polisher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apple-polisher. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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