adulation
[ aj-uh-ley-shuh n ]
/ ˌædʒ əˈleɪ ʃən /
noun
excessive devotion to someone; servile flattery.
RELATED WORDS
appreciative, congratulatory, respectful, polite, gallant, aristocratic, stately, elegant, civilized, affable, dignified, gracious, flattering, fiery, flaming, rhapsodic, burning, blazing, humble, cringing
Nearby words
- adts,
- aduki,
- adularescent,
- adularia,
- adulate,
- adulatory,
- adullamite,
- adult,
- adult education,
- adult fanconi's syndrome
Origin of adulation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for adulatory
adulatory
/ (ˌædjʊˈleɪtərɪ, ˈædjʊˌleɪtərɪ) /
adjective
expressing praise, esp obsequiously; flattering
adulation
/ (ˌædjʊˈleɪʃən) /
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
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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper