fawning

[faw-ning]

adjective

1. seeking favor by flattery or a servile way of behaving.

   The billionaire’s donation earned him a fawning front-page news story in the Globe and Mail.

   This detailed and favorable book review is not a fawning endorsement, as the reviewer takes the author to task on several points.

noun

1. the act or practice of seeking favor by flattery or a servile way of behaving.

   On the second-last night of the cruise, we witnessed the fawning of the ship’s wait staff as they jockeyed for a healthy tip.

Other Word Forms

• fawningly adverb
• fawningness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fawning¹

First recorded in 1325–75; fawn ² + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective; fawn ² + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun

Example Sentences

Is it a parable about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence and the fawning tendencies of large language models?

Read more on Salon

At the sight of the emerald ring, their puzzled expressions disappeared and they began fawning on her shamelessly, for surely this was an English princess on holiday!

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Lavrenty Beria, the ruthless head of Stalin’s secret police and the dictator’s most fawning sidekick, fully expected to take the reins.

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Mr. Carlson recently hosted a sympathetic, at times fawning, interview with Mr. Fuentes, and Mr. Roberts felt he needed to warn his fellow conservatives not to “cancel” them.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It could be ‘financial fawning’ — here’s how to stop.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• flattering