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 adulatory

appreciative, congratulatory, respectful, polite, gallant, aristocratic, stately, elegant, civilized, affable, dignified, gracious, flattering, fiery, flaming, rhapsodic, burning, blazing, humble, cringing

Examples from the Web for adulatory

Contemporary Examples of adulatory

It's true that Berman's view of her subject is adulatory, even gushy.
Hugh Hefner's Legacy
Richard Porton
July 29, 2010
McChrystal has lately been the subject of numerous media profiles, most of them adulatory.
Gen. McChrystal's Credibility Problem
Jon Krakauer
October 14, 2009

Historical Examples of adulatory

These verses have been disparaged as too adulatory in their tone.
The Oxford Reformers
Frederic Seebohm
A murmur of adulatory incredulity arose from the group of courtiers.
The Vicomte de Bragelonne
Alexandre Dumas
The adulatory phrases used as mere conventionalities seemed to have actually turned his head.
Charles the Bold
Ruth Putnam
Although not handsome, his face called for an adulatory responsiveness on the part of those who came in contact with him.
Edith and John
Franklin S. Farquhar
Demochares, then, has said all this about the adulatory spirit and conduct of the Athenians.
The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenus
Athenus

British Dictionary definitions for adulatory

adulatory

adjective

expressing praise, esp obsequiously; flattering

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 adulatory

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).