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.
Yet he also savored the moment, and hinted that he might enjoy the adulation of Chiefs fans a bit longer.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2026
As Hugo Ekitike walked off to the adulation of the Anfield crowd last Saturday and took his seat on the bench, Alexander Isak simply patted his Liverpool team-mate's hair from behind.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 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
Despite the adulation of the guys at school, he felt as if there was some kind of dis-tance between him and the fellows.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
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.
