I am looking for a business friendly language name to describe the action of a person sucking-up (teacher’s pet, leech, give your pinky they grab your whole arm person, someone who tries to use another person for their own gain without giving back)
e.g.
John warned Tony that if he went to lunch with his coworker Pete thinking he will gain a friend, Pete will end up acting like a suck-up.
A good word description is acting like a sycophant which has the meaning I am looking for:
Definition: A person who acts obsequiously towards someone important in order to gain advantage.
However to say someone is acting like a sycophant in writing in an e-mail or verbally sounds like a strong insult.
I am looking for the formal word for sucking up?
Answer
One way to avoid sounding insulting would be to circumvent the use of a noun to label the person, using the verb ‘ingratiate’ instead:
John warned Tony that if he went to lunch with his coworker Pete thinking he will gain a friend, he would eventually realise Pete’s only interest was in ingratiating himself.
Ingratiate: “Bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please them.”
‘a sycophantic attempt to ingratiate herself with the local aristocracy’
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : dfmetro , Answer Author : The Advocate
