brown-nose

brownnose

1. verb To try to curry favor with someone through flattery or favors in the hopes of getting something in return. I'm not doing well at all in math this year, so it seems like brownnosing the teacher is my only hope for a good grade! Don't brownnose me with chocolates and sweet talk—just tell me what you want! Since I'm deciding who gets the promotion, Crystal has been brownnosing me by buying me coffee all week.

2. noun One who seeks out the approval, attention, or support of others, especially superiors, through abject subservience, flattery, or fawning. Tim is such an obvious brownnose, always complementing the boss on her ideas and saying yes to anything she suggests. If you keep being such a brownnose in class, the other kids are going to start bullying you. John is such a brownnose, falling all over himself to impress the teacher.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

brown-nose

1. and brownie and brown-noser n. a sycophant; one who flatters for self-serving motives. You are just a plain old brown-nose. Will some brown-noser please try to get the teacher to put off the test?

2. tv. & in. to curry favor with someone; to be a sycophant. Don keeps brown-nosing, and the professor pretends not to notice.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.