as in flunkey
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
she's such a bootlicker that I don't take any of her compliments seriously
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bootlicker
Noun
-
Of course, Veep’s sycophants, buffoons, and backstabbers bear little resemblance to the vanguard of our latest regime.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
20 Feb. 2025 -
Yet Ariel soon grows concerned that Moretti’s servants and sycophants on his massive swath of remote land act more like cult members than superfans and, of course, dark secrets await.—
William Earl,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
7 July 2024
Noun
-
Most Americans don’t get it either, or why previous senators backing Ukraine have become toadies to Trump’s outrageous claims against the Ukrainians.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Mar. 2025
-
After Zelenskyy wouldn’t genuflect, Trump got toadies Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz to ask the Ukrainian to leave.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Sadly, perhaps much of what the Oscar winner is doing here will be lost in the blowback the unsweetened Trump critic will undoubtedly be subjected to from the MAGA minions and their kingpin in the days to come.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
20 Feb. 2025
-
Welles later said a Hearst minion had tried, unsuccessfully, to frame Welles by sending a 14-year-old girl to his hotel room.—
John Semley,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Raq is a master manipulator who claims to value loyalty above all else, especially from her henchmen brothers Marvin (London Brown) and Lou (Malcolm Mays) and her only son, yet constantly destabilizes the three of them with selfish mind games and power plays that genuinely harm them.—
Robyn Bahr,
The Hollywood Reporter,
7 Mar. 2025
-
One whack and the burly guard or crime boss henchman is knocked out for the rest of the caper.—
Rich Heldenfels,
Boston Herald,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
But the joke’s on us — Republican senators, who are the only players with any real power to stop them, have simply decided not to, all so that President Camacho can play at government with his favorite suck-ups.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2025
-
Sara Fischer, Dave Lawler Dec 23, 2024 - Politics & Policy Media's suck-up moment Fearing political retribution and strained by new business challenges, media companies that once covered President-elect Trump with skepticism — and in many cases, disdain — are reconsidering their approach.—
Sara Fischer,
Axios,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
No matter what spec-chart flunkies might say about a car that merely hits 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, GT 63 proved as ferocious and exhilarating as any front-engine GT car available, whether German, Italian or English.—
Mark Ewing,
Forbes,
30 Dec. 2024
-
Jin and his other flunkies excuse themselves, but Tetsu keeps Botan there to question him.—
Chris Klimek,
Vulture,
24 July 2024
Noun
-
DeMille, a social media specialist with a background in marketing, has highlighted influencers using the Los Angeles wildfires to peddle detoxes, fear mongering about parasites, and making claims about supplements that sound different than the disclaimers on the product's websites.—
Jude Joffe-Block,
NPR,
20 Feb. 2025
-
There are a variety of organisms that can cause pneumonia, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.—
Katia Hetter,
CNN,
19 Feb. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Bootlicker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bootlicker. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share