fawning

American  

[faw-ning] / ˈfɔ nɪŋ /

adjective

1. seeking favor by flattery or a servile way of behaving.

   The billionaire’s donation earned him a fawning front-page news story in the Globe and Mail.

   This detailed and favorable book review is not a fawning endorsement, as the reviewer takes the author to task on several points.

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noun

1. the act or practice of seeking favor by flattery or a servile way of behaving.

   On the second-last night of the cruise, we witnessed the fawning of the ship’s wait staff as they jockeyed for a healthy tip.

Other Word Forms

• fawningly adverb
• fawningness noun

Etymology

Origin of fawning

First recorded in 1325–75; fawn ² + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective; fawn ² + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun

Example Sentences

It is an unusually nuanced take on a subject that too often generates reflexive fulminating or fawning, and a truly auspicious start to the New Museum’s new chapter.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some of the folks noticed Anna May and greeted her with fawning smiles, addressing her as Miss Wong.

From Literature

The culprits were Gen-Zers fawning over how cute cozy Snoopy was, often on social media.

From Los Angeles Times

Is it a parable about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence and the fawning tendencies of large language models?

From Salon

At the sight of the emerald ring, their puzzled expressions disappeared and they began fawning on her shamelessly, for surely this was an English princess on holiday!

From Literature

Related Words

• flattering