Translation guide
A person who flatters or behaves obsequiously toward someone important to gain advantage.
Describing someone who flatters a superior for personal gain.
Literally 'sesame grinder', a common colloquial term for a sycophant or bootlicker.
彼は上司にごますりばかりしている。
He's always buttering up his boss.
Originally a professional entertainer who flattered guests; now used for a sycophant, often with a nuance of being a hanger-on.
A formal, somewhat literary term for a flatterer or sycophant.
Describing the action of flattering or behaving obsequiously.
There is no direct single-word equivalent for 'toady' in Japanese. Using a literal translation like 'おべっか者' is unnatural. Instead, use the phrases and words above depending on context.
ごますり is the most common and neutral term for a sycophant. 太鼓持ち has a historical nuance and can imply a more clownish or entertaining flatterer.
あの太鼓持ちは社長の機嫌を取るのに必死だ。
That toady is desperate to curry favor with the president.
彼は権力者の追従者に過ぎない。
He is nothing more than a toady to the powerful.
The verb form of ごますり; means to butter up or suck up to someone.
彼はいつも上司にごまをすっている。
He's always sucking up to his boss.
To flatter or use flattery, often with a nuance of insincere praise.
彼女はおべっかを使って昇進した。
She got promoted by toadying up to the boss.
To curry favor or ingratiate oneself, often by doing things to please someone.
彼は上司の機嫌を取るために残業を申し出た。
He offered to work overtime to curry favor with his boss.
A more formal or literary verb meaning to fawn upon or flatter obsequiously.
彼は権力者にへつらうことで地位を得た。
He gained his position by fawning on the powerful.