adulation

[aj-uh-ley-shuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR adulation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

excessive devotion to someone; servile flattery.

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

Related formsad·u·la·to·ry

[aj-uh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /ˈædʒ ə ləˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectiveself-ad·u·la·tion, nounself-ad·u·la·to·ry, adjectiveun·ad·u·lat·ing, adjectiveun·ad·u·la·to·ry, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for adulation

applause, commendation, flattery, worship, blandishment, sycophancy, fawning, bootlicking

Examples from the Web for adulation

Contemporary Examples of adulation

Before NYC Prep, reality TV stars were sources of entertainment, but never objects of envy or adulation.
The Surreal Genius of Bravo’s Rich Kids Docudrama ‘NYC Prep’
Amy Zimmerman
April 23, 2014
So here Obama is, craving security and adulation, but being denied both.
The Sprawling, Dimming Age of Obama
Lloyd Green
June 30, 2013
The audience was not yet done showering Simons with adulation.
Milan Fall Fashion Week 2012: Raf Simons’s Last Collection at Jil Sander
Robin Givhan
February 25, 2012
Lafayette, more interested in his own nationwide tour of adulation, declined.
Washington Was Broke? Why Founding Fathers Were Strapped for Cash
Willard Sterne Randall
February 20, 2012
Apollo misses the adulation of believers, and wants to fill a new planet with humans who will worship him.
Stalking the Literary Lion
Liesl Schillinger
March 20, 2011

Historical Examples of adulation

But adulation, flunkeyism, concert, covered the spark with dirt and mud.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863
Adam Gurowski
Through all this adulation Franklin passed serenely, if not unconsciously.
The Age of Invention
Holland Thompson
Never was a poor fellow in this world less suited to adulation of this sort.
Barrington
Charles James Lever
If you people will think back you'll realize you've all been raised on adulation of Germany.
The Forbidden Trail
Honor Willsie
He had simply laughed off their adulation; but he was not laughing now.
Marion's Faith.
Charles King

British Dictionary definitions for adulation

adulation

noun

obsequious flattery or praise; extreme admiration

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for adulation

late 14c., "insincere praise," from Old French adulacion, from Latin adulationem (nominative adulatio) "a fawning; flattery, cringing courtesy," noun of action from past participle stem of aduliari "to flatter," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + ulos "tail," from PIE *ul- "the tail" (cf. Sanskrit valah "tail," Lithuanian valai "horsehair of the tail"). The original notion is "to wag the tail" like a fawning dog (cf. Greek sainein "to wag the tail," also "to flatter;" see also wheedle).