Dictionary

bootlicky en · ADJ

Etymology

From bootlick + -y.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, informal) Prone to bootlicking; obsequious; servile.
   • He gave me a blow low enough to look gentlemanly, not bootlicky. 2024, Diana Rubino, Mrs. Aaron Burr, I'm Eliza To You, unnumbered page:
   • 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. 1991 February 8, “Sen. Simpson And Peter Arnett”, in The Washington Post:
   • Getting scolded like a child was hard to take, especially in front of her. But he couldn’t blame Pa after what happened yesterday. So he gave Pa a nod that he hoped wasn’t too bootlicky and turned Old Dun toward the Crossing. 2012, David M. Jessup, Mariano's Crossing, page 134:

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