brown noser

English

Etymology

A metaphorical image: when kissing the arse/ass of another person, one's nose is liable to be covered in brown feces.

Alternative forms

• brown-noser
• brownnoser

Noun

brown noser (plural brown nosers)

1. (idiomatic) One who brownnoses (flatters or humors somebody in an obsequious manner for personal gain); one who sucks up; a bootlicker, ass-kisser, sycophant.

Synonyms

• brown-nose
• See also Wikisaurus:sycophant

Translations

one who brownnoses

• Cantonese: 擦鞋仔
• Dutch: kontkusser (nl)
• Finnish: ruskeakielinen (fi)
• French: lèche-bottes (fr), lèche-cul (fr), cireur de pompes (fr) m, cire-pompes (fr) m and f
• Italian: leccaculo (it) m

• Japanese: ゴマする (ja) (gomasuru)
• Polish: wdupowłaz (pl) m
• Serbo-Croatian: dupelizac (sh), uvlakač (sh)
• Spanish: pelota (es) m and f, lameculos (es) m and f