Crossword Genius

Bootlicking Sergeant-Major leading his men? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

smarmy

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'bootlicking' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'sergeant-major leading his men?' is the wordplay.
'sergeant-major' becomes 'sm' (military abbreviation).
'leading his men?' becomes 'army' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sm'+'army'='SMARMY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for smarmy that I've seen before include "Bootlicking" , "Excessively flattering (R, not L)" , "Unpleasantly suave or ingratiating" , "Conceal oneself" , "Oleaginous" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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