Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act or practice of flattering.
- noun Excessive or insincere praise.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of one who flatters; false, insincere, or venal praise; obsequiousness; adulation; cajolery.
- noun Synonyms Compliment, Adulation, Flattery, etc. (see
adulation ); sycophancy, fawning, blandishment.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act or practice of flattering; the act of pleasing by artful commendation or compliments; adulation; false, insincere, or excessive praise.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable
Excessive praise orapproval , which is ofteninsincere and sometimescontrived to winfavour . - noun countable An
instance of excessive praise.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun excessive or insincere praise
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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In my opinion, Callicles, there are such processes, and this is the sort of thing which I term flattery, whether concerned with the body or the soul, or whenever employed with a view to pleasure and without any consideration of good and evil.
Gorgias 427? BC-347? BC Plato 1855
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The Hebrew for "flattery" is "smoothness"; then it came to mean a prey divided by lot, because a smooth stone was used in casting the lots (De 18: 8), "a portion" (Ge 14: 24).
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In contrast, flattery is extreme, and appeals to our egos in unrealistic ways.
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Manipulation through flattery is sometimes innocuous and sometimes sinister.
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Sincere compliments from a coworker or a boss are nice, but outrageous flattery is often an attempt to draw you into a sociopath's snare.
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They say flattery is the way to a woman's heart -- and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
'Man up, Harry Reid!' Mama Grizzlies and our manliness recession Alexandra Petri 2010
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Now that the blatant flattery is out of the way, on to nicknames.
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I think flattery is the preferred method, though, publishing budgets being what they are.
Swag-gering Roger Sutton 2006
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Elsewhere Aristotle reiterates that flattery is intertwined with demagoguery: “the demagogue is a flatterer of the people …” Politics 1318.
Is That Legal?: In the wake of the Kerry Remarks, Democrats are...WINNING. 2006
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Oh well. they say the highest form of flattery is impersonation.
Think Progress » Matalin Defends Coulter’s Attack on 9/11 Widows 2006
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