Butter up meaning
Butter up is a phrasal verb that means to informally flatter and please a person in hopes of obtaining a desired favour.
- Past simple
- buttered up
- Past participle
- buttered up
- -ing form
- buttering up
What butter up means
flatter for advantageB2informal
To informally flatter and please a person in hopes of obtaining a desired favour
He buttered up the receptionist to get an earlier appointment.
Similar phrasal verbs
With up: wake up, pick up, grow up, line up, make up, set up, put up, go up, bring up, mess up.
Common questions
What does butter up mean?
To informally flatter and please a person in hopes of obtaining a desired favour.
What is the past tense of butter up?
Buttered up, which is also its past participle.
Meanings and examples are written by Retite. The meanings follow Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0). Levels are based on the CEFR-J Wordlist and set by Retite.
