bootlicky

B3O1O1T1L1I1C3K5Y4

adjective

Prone to bootlicking; obsequious; servile.

Scrabble 20

Meanings

adjectivebootlicky (comparative bootlickier, superlative bootlickiest)

comparative bootlickier · superlative bootlickiest · alternative boot-licky

  1. derogatoryinformalProne 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
    2 more examples

    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

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

bootlicky. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bootlicky

MLA

“bootlicky.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bootlicky. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bootlicky,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bootlicky.

Source: bootlicky on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.