yes-man

/jɛs mæn/

noun

A (male) person who always agrees with their employer or superior.

“Crowds of yes-men elbowed one another out of the way, hoping to get a chance to kiss the boss's ring.”

Similar
ass-kisserass-lickerbootlickerbrown-nosersuck-upsycophanttoadyUriah Heep
Opposite
heromenschtruthteller
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounyes-man (plural yes-men)

plural yes-men · alternative yes man · alternative yesman

  1. idiomaticA (male) person who always agrees with their employer or superior.

    Crowds of yes-men elbowed one another out of the way, hoping to get a chance to kiss the boss's ring.

    2 more examples

    The function of a Vice-President is the job of a yes-man, as they call it in America.

    1868, New Zealand Parliament, Parliamentary debates, volume 55, numbers 13-25, page 2437

    Selfless service, my foot! Tom’s in the middle of a very important business deal with Cream. If it goes through, he’ll make a packet free of income tax. So he’s sucking up to him like a Hollywood Yes-man.

    1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 1, in Jeeves in the Offing, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1963 (1975 printing), →OCLC, pages 8–9

    Synonyms: ass-kisser, ass-licker, bootlicker, brown-noser, suck-up, sycophant, toady, Uriah Heep · Antonyms: hero, mensch, truthteller

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA (male) person who always agrees with their employer or superior.

Similar
ass-kisserass-lickerbootlickerbrown-nosersuck-upsycophanttoadyUriah Heepyea-sayer
Opposite
heromenschtruthteller

More synonyms by meaning

nouna person of unquestioning obedience

Similar
flunkyflunkeystooge
Broader
follower
Also see
company manflunkeyflunkystoogesycophanturiah heepyea-sayer

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From yes + -man.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans jabroer
  • jabroerperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Arabic إِمَّعَة
  • إِمَّعَة (ʔimmaʕa)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Bulgarian послушко
  • послушко (posluško)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Chinese Cantonese 好好先生, 應聲蟲 /应声虫
  • 好好先生 (hou² hou² sin¹ saang¹)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • 應聲蟲 /应声虫 (jing³ sing¹ cung⁴)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Chinese Mandarin 跟屁蟲 /跟屁虫, 應聲蟲 /应声虫
  • 跟屁蟲 /跟屁虫 (gēn pì chóng)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • 應聲蟲 /应声虫 (yìngshēng chóng)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Czech poskok
  • poskokperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Danish jasiger
  • jasigerperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Dutch jaknikker, jabroer
  • jaknikkerperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • jabroerperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Finnish jees-mies
  • jees-miesperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
French béni-oui-oui
  • béni-oui-ouiperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
German Jasager
  • Jasagerperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Greek γιέσμαν, μαλιστάκιας
  • γιέσμαν (giésman)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • μαλιστάκιας (malistákias)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • οσφυοκάμπτης (osfyokámptis)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Hebrew יסמן
  • יסמן (yésmen)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Hindi चमचा, जी-हुज़ूर
  • चमचा (camcā)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • जी-हुज़ूर (jī-huzūr)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Hungarian fejbólintó János
  • fejbólintó Jánosperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Italian yes man
  • yes manperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Japanese イエスマン
  • イエスマン (iesuman)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Korean 아첨군
  • 아첨군 (acheomgun)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Latin assentātor
  • assentātorperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Norwegian Bokmål nikkedukke, spyttslikker (spilt-licker)
  • nikkedukkeperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • spyttslikker (spilt-licker)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Persian بلهقربانگو
  • بلهقربانگو (bale-qorbân-gu)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Polish potakiwacz
  • potakiwaczperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Portuguese pau-mandado, lambe-botas
  • pau-mandadoperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • lambe-botasperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • puxa-sacoperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Romanian lingușitor, pupincurist
  • lingușitorperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • pupincuristperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Russian сикофа́нт, подхали́м
  • сикофа́нт (sikofánt)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • подхали́м (podxalím)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • лизоблю́д (lizobljúd)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • подпева́ла (podpevála)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Spanish sacristán de amén, lameculos
  • sacristán de aménperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • lameculosperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • pelotilleroperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Swahili ndiyo-mtu
  • ndiyo-mtuperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Swedish ja-sägare, nickedocka
  • ja-sägareperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • nickedockaperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Tamil பூம்பூம்மாடு, ஜால்ரா
  • பூம்பூம்மாடு (pūmpūmmāṭu)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • ஜால்ரா (jālrā)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Turkish evetçi, evet efendimci
  • evetçiperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • evet efendimciperson who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Yiddish צובאָמקער, באַסאָק
  • צובאָמקער (tsubomker)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • באַסאָק (basok)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • פּאָטאַקעווער (potakever)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
  • אונטערבאָמקער (unterbomker)person who always agrees with their employer or superior — see also yea-sayer
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: yes-man on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.