Brownnose

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who sucks up; a bootlicker, ass-kisser, sycophant. figuratively

    "A workmate reported the matter, "which is why the worker threatened to beat up the latter," calling him a "brownnose" and threatening to "wipe the floor with him.""

Verb
  1. 1
    To flatter someone (especially a superior) in an obsequious manner, and to support their every opinion.

Synonyms

All synonyms
adulatorapple polisherapple-polisharse-kisserarse-lickerass-kisser

Example

More examples

"A workmate reported the matter, "which is why the worker threatened to beat up the latter," calling him a "brownnose" and threatening to "wipe the floor with him.""

Etymology

From brown + nose; scatological.

Related phrases

ass kissersuck up

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