SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
fawning
adjective
Using exaggerated flattery or submissive attention to gain favor.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Flattering to win favor
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topFawning implies excessive praise or submissiveness aimed at gaining approval; flattering alone may be sincere.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See fawning in use
The reviewer found the interview fawning because it avoided every difficult question.
At a networking evening, a guest used fawning praise whenever a successful designer approached, calling every unfinished sketch brilliant before looking at it.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license