toady

Everyday

1. A person who flatters and obeys a powerful person too much, to get favours; a creep (informal). tree →
2. (verb) To behave like this: «He toadied to the boss.» tree →
3. (rare) Like a toad. tree →

In the lessons

In stories and history, toadies surround kings and bullies, agreeing with everything. The word comes from old travelling sellers' helpers who pretended to eat «poisonous» toads. In The Wind in the Willows, Toad is not a toady — he is the opposite: proud and boastful — but the weasels and stoats flatter him when it suits them. Phrases: «toady up to».

Examples

• The bully's toadies laughed at all his jokes. tree →
• Stop toadying to the teacher. tree →
• The king was surrounded by toadies who never told him the truth. tree →
• He was such a toady that nobody trusted him. tree →
• She toadied to the rich lady in hope of a present. tree →

Note

Plural toadies; past toadied. Similar: crawler, creep, suck-up (US), teacher's pet, brown-noser (rude). Do not mix up with toad or Toad the character.