Etymograph

English

suck-up

Deverbal from suck up.

A compound of suck + up

Proto-Indo-European *sewg-

Proto-Germanic *sūkaną ‘to suck’

Proto-West Germanic *sūkan ‘to suck’

Old English sūcan ‘to suck’

Middle English souken ‘to breastfeed’

English suck

Proto-Germanic *upp ‘up’

Proto-West Germanic *upp

Old English upp

Middle English up ‘to a vertical axis’

English up

Today it means

noun A person who sucks up, or plays up through adulation or flattery or other such devices to win another's favour; a brown-noser.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “suck-up”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / suck-up

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