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• flattery
  flattery

  noun

  the act of flattering.
• Flattery
  Flattery

  noun

  Cape, a cape in NW Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula, at the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait.

flattery

¹ American  

[flat-uh-ree] / ˈflæt ə ri /

noun

• flatteries
  plural

1. the act of flattering.

2. a flattering compliment or speech; excessive, insincere praise.

   Synonyms:

   pandering, sycophancy

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Flattery ² American  

[flat-ree] / ˈflæt ri /

noun

1. Cape, a cape in NW Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula, at the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait.

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flattery British  

/ ˈflætərɪ /

noun

1. the act of flattering

2. excessive or insincere praise

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• flatteries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of flattery

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English flaterie, from Middle French, equivalent to flat(er) “to flatter” + -erie noun suffix; see flatter ¹, -ery

Explanation

Flattery is excessive praise. If you're hoping to borrow your brother's car, be careful not to overdo it when you compliment his haircut, new shoes, and singing voice — he knows flattery when he sees it. As opposed to real praise, flattery is insincere and almost always has an ulterior motive. The Old English root word of flatter is flater, which originally meant "to stroke with the hand or caress." When you stroke someone's ego to get what you want, you're using flattery. If the person you are wildly complimenting tells you that flattery will get you nowhere, you know it's time to back off.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flattery Flattery flatteries

“I’m not swayed by flattery, just as I’m not affected by insults. ... I’ve faced the most attacks in my own country, not abroad,” Barton confessed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Graham was, rhetorically, almost pathetically in Trump’s thrall, heaping flattery onto a president who’d once posted Graham’s phone number online for mass harassment.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

And this is a problem, given that large-language models might, at this point, be best known for being sycophantic flattery machines.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

Parody, in this case, is the sincerest form of flattery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

“Therapy, hah! Unvarnished flattery is what you hand out—and they eat it up with a trowel. Disgusting! Why couldn’t you have gone into law like your father?”

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer

Flattery in state media underscored the dictator’s need to establish cult-of-personality supremacy as a smokescreen for his nation’s woes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

Ms Flattery said: "I'm not usually one to believe in fate but I was sure we were going to lose him, there was someone looking over us that day."

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2023

“The fish can be anywhere from Cape Flattery to Newport, Oregon, from 25 to 200 miles offshore. You need friends out there.”

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2023

Flattery from a president, though I wouldn’t know, is likely addictive.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2021

“Milholland’s gone. He got transferred out to Cape Flattery, Milholland and Robert Miller. That’s when we moved up.”

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

But I learned as little about Herman from these flatteries as I did from Einhorn’s gushing cliches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2021

The servants, and particularly Genoveva, likewise joined their voices in a chorus of flatteries, spreading all over town the fame of her virtues, and crowning her with a halo of respect and sanctity.

From The Marquis of Pe?alta (Marta y Mar?a) A Realistic Social Novel by Armando Palacio Vald?s

Such demonstrations of homage were most frequently got up by the crafty chamberlain, who sagaciously reckoned that, if these flatteries did not always obtain the king's applause, they seldom called forth his displeasure.

From The Childhood of King Erik Menved An Historical Romance by Bernhard Severin Ingemann

Fresh and unspoiled, she trod the social labyrinth undeviatingly, received the flatteries, even the open devotion, of half a hundred men with caution, and remained—herself.

From The Transgression of Andrew Vane a novel by Guy Wetmore Carryl

We approve neither of the flatteries of one side, nor the insultings of the other.

From An Answer to a Question that Nobody thinks of, viz., But what if the Queen should Die? by Daniel Defoe