kiss arse
(UK, Ireland, idiomatic, sometimes, vulgar, colloquial) , to curry favour with the powerful by obsequious flattery.
Definitions
(UK, Ireland, idiomatic, sometimes, vulgar, colloquial) , to curry favour with the powerful by obsequious flattery.
Comments
Used in
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "kiss arse".
🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "kiss arse" (K)
Browse all slang words starting with K.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- kiss someone's ass83%
(idiomatic, slang) To flatter someone (especially a superior) in an obsequious manner, and to support their every opinion to gain their favor.
- kiss-ass80%
(North America, slang) An obsequious person who tries to win the favor of someone, usually their superior.
- ass-kisser76%
(North America, slang, vulgar) Someone who kisses ass (who acts obsequiously in order to gain another's favor).
- arse-licking75%
British vulgar slang with two distinct senses. The literal sense refers to anilingus (oral-anal sexual contact), though this usage is relatively uncommon in everyday speech. Far more current is the figurative sense: obsequious, fawning behaviour aimed at gaining favour — the kind of shameless flattery and sycophancy associated with office politics or social climbing. 'Arse-licker' is the common agent noun. The figurative use is direct, contemptuous, and vivid — making it a popular insult for obvious flatterers.
- arse-licking74%
Carries two related vulgar senses in British and Commonwealth English: literally, anilingus; and figuratively, sycophancy or obsequious flattery toward someone in authority. The figurative sense is far more commonly encountered in everyday speech, roughly equivalent to brown-nosing. Used with contempt for the behavior being described. A very common British informal expression for workplace or social toadying. Arse-licking in the figurative sense can describe workplace dynamics, political alignment, or social climbing wherever sycophantic behavior is the strategy being used.