noun🎓 English idiom
yes-man
a person who always agrees with their boss
What it means
A yes-man is someone — usually in a workplace or political setting — who reflexively agrees with whatever a superior says in order to stay in favor. The label is almost always critical, used about employees, advisers, or courtiers who lack independence and avoid pushing back even when it's needed.
Examples
- The CEO is surrounded by yes-men who never challenge his ideas.
- I refuse to be the yes-man of this team.
- Promotion came easy because he was the perfect yes-man.
- Every collapsing regime in history was held up by yes-men.
Where it comes from
An early 20th-century American coinage, first attested around 1912, originally used about staff in newspaper offices who agreed with everything the editor said. It spread rapidly through business and political vocabulary and remains common today.
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