adulation
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- adulatory adjective
- self-adulation noun
- self-adulatory adjective
- unadulating adjective
- unadulatory adjective
Etymology
Origin of adulation
Middle English < Middle French < Latin adūlātiōn- (stem of adūlātiō ) servile flattery, fawning, equivalent to adūlāt ( us ), past participle of adūlārī, -āre to fawn upon (of dogs), apparently a nominal derivative, with ad- ad-, of an otherwise unattested base + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
If you've ever been to a pop concert filled with screaming fans you've probably been exposed to adulation — praise so over-the-top it's almost embarrassing. The Latin word adulatio means "flattery." It's made up of the roots ad ("to") and ulos ("tail"), and if you're thinking of a dog wagging its tail to and fro to get a treat from its owner, you're on the right track. As anyone who's seen a crazed fan drooling over a celebrity knows, adulation is one of the more doglike of human behaviors.
Vocabulary lists containing adulation
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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Native Son
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"So, I'm back!" the 25-year-old declared to the London crowd, who responded with adulation.
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
Both beneficiary and victim of white America’s longstanding insistence on having one media-anointed leader serve as the spokesman for tens of millions of Black citizens, he drew adulation and jeers but consistently held the spotlight.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
Cricket does not enjoy the same adulation in Nepal as it does in neighbouring South Asian nations where the game dominates popular culture.
From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026
Her adulation of Herod, the assimilated Roman Jewish client-king of Judea, was contrary to most takes on him, certainly to the baby-Jesus-hunter of Matthew’s Gospel.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
In a voice full of fury and adulation, Met Bong yells out, “Angkar is all- powerful! Angkar is the savior and liberator of the Khmer people!”
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
