noun
Jenkins
JEHNG-kihnz
noun
1
A person who fawns over or flatters others, especially to gain favor.
"He was such a jenkins around the boss, agreeing with everything she said."
"Nobody trusted the new intern — he came across as a real jenkins to management."
How to Use Jenkins
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn old-fashioned, fairly rare word for a suck-up or yes-man.
When to use it
Dated and uncommon — most people will only recognize "Jenkins" as a surname; the common-noun sense rarely appears outside older texts.
Word Forms
Jenkinses plural
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He was such a _____ around the boss, agreeing with everything she said.
Etymology
From the surname Jenkins, itself from the medieval given name Jenkin ("little John"). The flatterer sense comes from stock servant characters named Jenkins in older English fiction and theatre.