mutual admiration society

Idioms  

1. A relationship in which two people have strong feelings of esteem for each other and often exchange lavish compliments. The term may signify either genuine or pretended admiration, as in Each of them praised the other's book—it was a real mutual admiration society. The expression was invented by Henry David Thoreau in his journal (1851) and repeated by Oliver Wendell Holmes and others.

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Example Sentences

There is something of a mutual admiration society for N.B.A. defenders.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2022

Goolagong Cawley made it clear in an interview Sunday that it was a mutual admiration society.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 10, 2021

Russell and Herman Melville, no less, formed a mutual admiration society and the latter’s “John Marr and Other Sailors” bears the dedication “To W.C.R.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 14, 2020

On “My Way,” the prolific Texan swings and croons through 11 songs associated with Frank Sinatra, with whom he formed an unlikely and undeniable mutual admiration society.

From Washington Times • Sep. 11, 2018

They were a mutual admiration society of two, and Glerk could not bear it.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill