apple-polisher

noun

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
  1. minion
  2. fan
  3. toady
  4. parasite
  5. sponge
  6. lickspittle
  7. sycophant
  8. bootlicker
Noun
  • Zoey Deutch wears minion yellow to the Los Angeles premiere of Minions & Monsters on June 28.
    — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026
  • And minions have taken over Wendy’s frosty machines with a new banana flavor.
    — Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of minion
Noun
  • Courtside fans Swift and Kelce were most recently spotted sitting court-side at game three of the Eastern Conference Finals played between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks in May 2026.
    — Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
  • The first-year pro soccer club dropped a 2-1 home game to One Knoxville, watching the Tennessee side and reigning league champ rally to steal all three points in front of 7,223 fans at Expo Idaho.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 3 July 2026
Definition of fan
Noun
  • Under Homelander’s rule, spineless toadies like The Deep would be the only remaining followers.
    — Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
  • His embrace of Trump‘s endorsement and refusal to admit that Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election expose him as a toady.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Definition of toady
Noun
  • Zach Raff, an assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics at NC State, previously told the Observer the parasite poses low risk to North Carolina as long as infected animals are quarantined.
    — Eva Flowe July 2, Charlotte Observer, 2 July 2026
  • It is caused by eating or drinking food contaminated with either bacteria, viruses, parasites or a harmful toxin.
    — Sheah Rarback, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
Definition of parasite
Noun
  • Allow the solution to work for at least five minutes and, again, starting at the top of the door, scrub with a sponge.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 28 June 2026
  • Scrub the grates with an old rag or abrasive dish sponge and rinse well.
    — Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 27 June 2026
Definition of sponge
Noun
  • Rarely has a president been surrounded by such an array of toadies and lickspittles, operating beyond their competence in an atmosphere of organizational chaos.
    — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Firmly in control of the nation’s massive federal apparatus, MAGA and its Republican lickspittles in Congress have thrived on chaos.
    — Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of lickspittle
Noun
  • In an undersized team that already shares a worldview, the silicon sycophant doesn't catch the blind spot.
    — Matt Poepsel, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
  • Ditto his despicable aides and Cabinet members, his unprincipled sycophants and suck-ups.
    — Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 9 June 2026
Definition of sycophant
Noun
  • The result of this dynamic tension of bootlickers, according to Bernhard’s narrator, is the perpetual elevation and official anointment of mediocrity.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
  • If all goes to hell and America devolves into a rank dictatorship, beware the bootlicker.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026
Definition of bootlicker
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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apple-polisher
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Cite this Entry

“Apple-polisher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apple-polisher. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

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