Bootlicky

adj, slang

adj, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Prone to bootlicking; obsequious; servile. derogatory, informal

    "If Peter Arnett had been anywhere near as bootlicky and obsequious with Saddam Hussein as Alan Simpson was in a visit to the Iraqi dictator last April, we could understand why the CNN correspondent was being assaulted for his interviews and coverage."

Example

More examples

"If Peter Arnett had been anywhere near as bootlicky and obsequious with Saddam Hussein as Alan Simpson was in a visit to the Iraqi dictator last April, we could understand why the CNN correspondent was being assaulted for his interviews and coverage."

Etymology

From bootlick + -y.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.