Flattery

Definition: Flattery

Flattery

Noun

1. Excessive or insincere praise.

Date "flattery" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Etymology: Flattery \Flat"ter*y\, noun; plural Flatteries. [from Old English expression flaterie, Old French flaterie, French flaterie, from flater to flatter, French flatter; of uncertain origin. See Flatter, transitive verb]. (references)

Domain	Definition
19th Century Satire	Cologne water, to be smelled of but not swallowed. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Flattery

Synonyms: compliment, obsequiousness. (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Falsehood	Lip homage, lip service; mouth honor; hollowness; mere show, mere outside; duplicity, double dealing, insincerity, hypocrisy, cant, humbug; jesuitism, jesuitry; pharisaism; Machiavelism, "organized hypocrisy"; crocodile tears, mealy-mouthedness, quackery; charlatanism, charlatanry; gammon; bun-kum, bumcombe, flam; bam, flimflam, cajolery, flattery; Judas kiss; perfidy; (bad faith); il volto sciolto i pensieri stretti.
Flattery	Noun: flattery, adulation, gloze; blandishment, blandiloquence; cajolery; fawning, wheedling;Verb: captation, coquetry, obsequiousness, sycophancy, flunkeyism, toadeating, tuft-hunting; snobbishness.
Servility	Noun: servility; slavery; (subjection); obsequiousness; Adjective: subserviency; abasement; prostration, prosternation; genuflection; (worship); fawning; Verb: tuft-hunting, timeserving, flunkeyism; sycophancy; (flattery); humility.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Sir, I am impervious to flattery. (Topaze; writing credit: Ben Hecht; Benn W. Levy) Flattery will get you nowhere (Bad Day at Black Rock; writing credit: Howard Breslin; Don McGuire)
Movie/TV Titles	Assault and Flattery (1956) Flattery (1925)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Foghorn Flattery and the Dancing Horses (reference) Friendship, Flattery and Frankness of Speech: Studies on Friendship in the New Testament World (Supplements to Novum Testamentum, Vol 82) (reference) The west coast people : the Nootka of Vancouver Island and Cape Flattery (reference) You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery (reference) (more book examples)

Music	Assault & Flattery [IMPORT] (reference) Finest Form of Flattery (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Track of USS TUSCARORA from Cape Flattery to Japan. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.		Cape Flattery and Neah Bay, Oregon Territory Survey by Aid James S. Lawson, 1852 Topographic Survey T-386. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.
	C&GS Ship PIONEER under Golden Gate Bridge Magnetometer invented at Scripps deployed on this ship in late 1950's Surveys from Pt. Conception to Cape Flattery discovered magnetic striping Magnetic striping led to Theory of Seafloor Spreading H. W. Menard called "among most significant geophysical surveys ever made". Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.		The lighthouse at Tatoosh Island with Cape Flattery and the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca seen in the right center. In: Pacific Coast. Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory . By George Davidson, 1869. P. 179. Library Call Number VK947.D4 1869. Credit: America's Coastlines.
	Flattery Rocks, approximately 12 nautical miles south of Cape Flattery. In: Pacific Coast. Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory . By George Davidson, 1869. P. 177. Library Call Number VK947.D4 1869. Credit: America's Coastlines.		Fuca Pillar at Cape Flattery, the northwest extremity of the Olympic Peninsula. Credit: Sanctuaries.
	It's down right flattery. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Author	Quotation
Benjamin Disraeli	Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel.
Charles Colton	Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.
Dr. Samuel Johnson	Patron: a wretch who supports with insolence and is paid with flattery.
Edmund Burke	Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
Jack Paar	Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery.
Josh Billings	Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt, not swallowed.
Minna Antrim	Between flattery and admiration there often flows a river of contempt.
Oliver Goldsmith	The ambitious are forever followed by adulation for they receive the most pleasure from flattery.
Samuel Johnson	Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Author	Date	Quotation
John Locke	1690	But when mistake or flattery prevailed with weak princes to make use of this power for private ends of their own, and not for the public good, the people were fain by express laws to get prerogative determined in those points wherein they found disadvantage from it: and thus declared limitations of prerogative were by the people found necessary in cases which they and their ancestors had left, in the utmost latitude, to the wisdom of those princes who made no other but a right use of it, that is, for the good of their people. (Second Treatise of Government)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Emma	Austen, Jane	Her ignorance is hourly flattery.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	LORD, n. In American society, an English tourist above the state of a costermonger, as, lord 'Aberdasher, Lord Hartisan and so forth. The traveling Briton of lesser degree is addressed as "Sir," as, Sir 'Arry Donkiboi, or 'Amstead 'Eath. The word "Lord" is sometimes used, also, as a title of the Supreme Being; but this is thought to be rather flattery than true reverence. Miss Sallie Ann Splurge, of her own accord, Wedded a wandering English lord -- Wedded and took him to dwell with her "paw," A parent who throve by the practice of Draw. Lord Cadde I don't hesitate to declare Unworthy the father-in-legal care Of that elderly sport, notwithstanding the truth That Cadde had renounced all the follies of youth; For, sad to relate, he'd arrived at the stage Of existence that's marked by the vices of age. Among them, cupidity caused him to urge Repeated demands on the pocket of Splurge, Till, wrecked in his fortune, that gentleman saw Inadequate aid in the practice of Draw, And took, as a means of augmenting his pelf, To the business of being a lord himself. His neat-fitting garments he wilfully shed And sacked himself strangely in checks instead; Denuded his chin, but retained at each ear A whisker that looked like a blasted career. He painted his neck an incarnadine hue Each morning and varnished it all that he knew. The moony monocular set in his eye Appeared to be scanning the Sweet Bye-and-Bye. His head was enroofed with a billycock hat, And his low-necked shoes were aduncous and flat. In speech he eschewed his American ways, Denying his nose to the use of his A's And dulling their edge till the delicate sense Of a babe at their temper could take no offence. His H's -- 'twas most inexpressibly sweet, The patter they made as they fell at his feet! Re-outfitted thus, Mr. Splurge without fear Began as Lord Splurge his recouping career. Alas, the Divinity shaping his end Entertained other views and decided to send His lordship in horror, despair and dismay From the land of the nobleman's natural prey. For, smit with his Old World ways, Lady Cadde Fell -- suffering Caesar! -- in love with her dad! G.J.
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
John Adams	1797-1801	If that solitary suffrage can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations.
Ronald Reagan	1981-1989	Only in this case, it's not flattery, but grand larceny--the intellectual theft of ideas that you and I recognize as our own.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Flattery" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Flattery" is used about 157 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	157	25,059

The following table summarizes the usage of "flattery" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.

Name	Usage/Gender	Usage per 100 million Persons	Rank in USA
Flattery	Last name	200	35,842
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Expression using "flattery": servile flattery. Additional references.
Hypenated Usage
	Ending with "flattery": self-flattery.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "flattery"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		lakja, lajkatim (adulation, cajolement, cajolery, eyewash, sycophancy, wheedling). (various references)

Arabic		‏مداهنة (adulation, blandishment, cajolery, lip service, sweet talk), ‏تملق (adulate, blandish, blarney, butter, butter up, cajole, cajolery, coax, coaxing, compliment, con, court, cringe, curry favor with, curry favour with, fawn, flatter, incense, ingratiate oneself, insinuation, kowtow, lick his boots, make, mawkish, oiliness, palaver, servilism, soap, soft soap, subservience, suck up to, sweet talk, taffy, toady, wheedle), ‏إطراء (applause, compliment, panegyric, rave). (various references)

Bulgarian		ласкателство (adulation, blandishment, blarney, cajolement, cajolery, lip salve, oil, palaver, soap, soft sawder, soft soap, sweet talk, taffy, toadyism). (various references)

Chinese		媚詞 , 奉承 (Adulation, Blandish, Blandished, Blandishing, Courtly, Flatteries). (various references)

Czech		pochlebování (adulation), lichotky, lichocení (blandishment, oil, sugar). (various references)

Dutch		vleierij, vleierý, gevlei. (various references)

Esperanto		flato, flatado. (various references)

Farsi		چاپلوسی (Blarney, Cajole, Grease, Subservience), تملق (Subservience). (various references)

Finnish		mairittelu (cajolery), imartelu. (various references)

French		flatterie, cajolerie, adulation. (various references)

German		schmeichelei (adulation, blandishment, blarney, cajolement, taffy). (various references)

Greek		κολακεία (adulation, blandishment, blarney, toadyism, wheedling), γαλιφιά (arse licking). (various references)

Hebrew		מחמא�" (compliment), לשון חלקות, חלקת לשון (hypocrisy), ח� ופ�" (hypocrisy, impiety), ח� פ� ות (sycophancy), �"חלקת לשון, �"ח� פ�" (adulation), �"ברי חלקות (blarney), �"ברי ח� ופ�". (various references)

Hungarian		hízelgés (adulation, blandishment, blarney, butter, cajolery, cajoling, coaxing, flattering, palaver, sawder, soft solder, sycophancy, taffy). (various references)

Indonesian		elusan, cumbuan (banter, caress, jest, sweet words), cumbu (jest, joke, sweet talk), belaian (caress). (various references)

Italian		lusinga (adulation, cajole, cajolement, cajolery, enticement, illusion), adulazione (adulation, blarney, taffy). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		迎合 (ingratiation), 巧言. (various references)

Japanese Katakana		せじ (compliment, worldly affairs), �'い�"う (ingratiation), あゆ (sweetfish), あゆついしょう (adulation), あまくち (mildness, stupidity, sweet flavour), �"う�'�" (a wide plain or field, antigen, boasting, bragging, declaration, light source, plateau, profession, protest, tableland, talking big, wilderness), �"う�'�"れいしょく (honeyed words), みそすり (a flatterer, grinding miso), からせじ (lip service), おべっか , ついしょう (servile behavior, sycophancy), べ�"ねい (adulation), ねい (insincerity), ねいべ�" (adulation, cajolery), お� て (instigation), おせじ (compliment), おべ�"ちゃら , �"び (cajolery, flirtation). (various references)

Korean		감언이설 (Flatteries). (various references)

Manx		brynnerys. (various references)

Norwegian		smiger. (various references)

Papiamen		chuliamentu, chuliamento. (various references)

Pig Latin		atteryflay.(various references)

Portuguese		lisonja (blandishment, blarney, butter, coaxing, incense, lipsalve, palaver, sawder, sugar), adulação (adulation, blarney, cajolement, cajolery, coaxing, cringing, fawning, sawder, sugar, toadyism). (various references)

Romanian		tãmâie (incense, thick), mãgulire (compliment, flattering), mãgulealã, linguşire (adulation, apple sauce, blandishment, butter, cajolement, cajolery, cringing, fawning, flannel, flattering, slaver, soap, toad-eating). (various references)

Russian		лесть (adulation, apple, blandishment, blarney, cajolement, cajolery, eyewash, lipsalve, palaver, sawder, soft sawder, sweet talk, sycophancy, taffy, treacle). (various references)

Scottish		sodal (pride), miolasg, miodal (fair spokenness, fawning), mealasg, masgul, giùmsgal, gabhann, brosgul, blanndar, bòidheam. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		ulagivanje (obsequiousness, suck up, toadyism), laskanje (blandishment, blarney, eyewash, flatting, lipsalve, soft soap). (various references)

Spanish		lisonja (blarney, compliment, soft soap). (various references)

Swedish		smicker (apple-sauce, blandishment, blarney, flannels, palaver, sawder, soft soap). (various references)

Turkish		yaltaklanma (adulation, blarney, flummery, sliminess), pohpohlama (adulation, incense, palaver, rose water, soft soap, sugarplum), kompliman (bouquet, compliment, sugar), dalkavukluk (adulation, blarney, butter, flunkeyism, flunkyism, obsequiousness, slavishness, soapiness, sycophancy, toadeating, toadyism), övme (commending, eulogy, exaltation, glorification, laudation, praise, praising). (various references)

Ukrainian		самоомана, лестощі (adulation, cajolement, cajolery, oil, palaver, sugar, sugarplum, sycophancy, wheedle). (various references)

Vietnamese		sự xu nịnh, sự tâng bốc (exaltation), sự bợ đỡ lời tâng bốc, lời nịnh hót (lipsalve), lời bợ đỡ. (various references)

Welsh		truth (adulation, blarnery, rigamarole), gweniaith (adulation, blarney). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	adulatio, adulationis, blanditiis. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Language	Date	Source	Proverbs Chapter 6, Verse 24
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Tou diafulassein se apo gunaikoV upandrou kai apo diabolhV glwsshV allotriaV
Latin	405	Vulgate	Ut custodiant te a muliere mala et a blanda lingua extraneae
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	That thei kepe thee fro an euel womman, and fro the flaterende tunge of the straunge womman.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	They will keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the strange woman.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Proverbs Chapter 6, Verse 24
Bulgarian	За да те пазят от лоша жена, От ласкателния език на чужда жена.
Cebuano	Sa pagpalikay kanimo gikan sa dautang babaye, Gikan sa pag-uloulo sa dila sa dumuloong.
Croatian	da te èuvaju od zle žene, od laskava jezika tuðinke.
Danish	for at vogte dig for Andenmands Hustru, for fremmed Kvindes sleske Tunge!
Dutch	Om u te bewaren voor de kwade vrouw, voor het gevlei der vreemde tong.
Finnish	että varjeltuisit pahasta naisesta, vieraan vaimon liukkaasta kielestä.
French	Ils te préserveront de la femme corrompue, De la langue doucereuse de l`étrangère.
German	auf daß du bewahrt werdest vor dem bösen Weibe, vor der glatten Zunge der Fremden.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	Dengan demikian engkau dijauhkan dari perempuan-perempuan nakal, dan dari rayuan-rayuan berbisa istri orang lain.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	Maka demikianlah engkau dipeliharakan dari pada perempuan jalang dan dari pada lidah pembujuk orang yang tiada ketahuan.
Italian	per preservarti dalla donna altrui, dalle lusinghe di una straniera.
Maori	Hei tiaki i a koe kei he i te wahine kino, i te whakapati a te arero o te wahine ke.
Norwegian	så de bevarer dig fra en ond kvinne, fra en fremmed kvinnes glatte tunge.
Portuguese	para te guardarem da mulher má, e das lisonjas da língua da adúltera.
Rumanian	Ele te vor feri de femeia stricatq, de limba ademenitoare a celei strqine.
Russian	ЮФП�'Щ ПУФЕТЕЗБФШ ФЕ�'С ПФ ОЕЗП�"ОПК ЦЕОЭЙОЩ, ПФ МШУФЙЧПЗП СЪЩЛБ ЮХЦПК.
Spanish	Te guardarán de la mala mujer, de la suavidad de lengua de la extraña.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Misspellings
	"Flattery" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Fattori, fladder, flaktery, flatcher, flater, flaterry, flatery, Flateyri, flattern, flatteur, floatery, flutterby. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "flattery" (pronounced fla"terē)
4	-a" t er ē	battery.
3	-t er ē	adultery, alimentary, artery, blustery, buttery, complimentary, contradictory, coterie, directory, jittery, documentary, eatery, effrontery, factory, glittery, history, introductory, lottery, mastery, mystery, notary, olfactory, parliamentary, peremptory, perfunctory, pottery, premonitory, protohistory, rectory, refractory, rotary, rudimentary, satisfactory, sedimentary, splintery, supplementary, testamentary, trajectory, unsatisfactory, upholstery, valedictory, victory, watery.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-e-f-l-r-t-t-y"
	-1 letter: flatter.
	-2 letters: elytra, falter, fatter, fealty, featly, flayer, fretty, latter, lyrate, lyttae, rattle, rattly, realty, tartly, tetryl, treaty, yatter.
	-3 letters: after, alert, alter, artel, early, faery, farle, fatly, fatty, feral, ferly, fetal, flare, flyer, flyte, fytte, later, latte, layer, leafy, leary, lefty, lyart, lytta, ratel, ratty, refly, relay, taler, tarty, tater, teary, tetra.
	Words containing the letters "a-e-f-l-r-t-t-y"
	+2 letters: flyswatter.
	+3 letters: flyswatters, fortunately.
	+4 letters: flatteringly, interfaculty.
	+5 letters: antifertility, filterability, softheartedly, unforgettably, unfortunately.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Expression	Frequency per Day
cse.unsw.edu.au flattery.html geoffo humor	283
flattery	22
cape flattery	17
flattery lead ruin	4
cse.unsw.edu.au flattery geoffo humor	4
flattery older sister	3
flattery sincere vallins	2
flattery form sincerest	2
cape district flattery school	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Flattery

Definition: Flattery

Flattery

Noun

Specialty Definition: Flattery

Synonyms: Flattery

Synonyms within Context: Flattery

Falsehood

Flattery

Servility

Crosswords: Flattery

Modern Usage: Flattery

Screenplays

Movie/TV Titles

Commercial Usage: Flattery

Books

Music

Image Slideshow: Flattery

Photos:Flattery

Computer Images:Flattery

Photo Album: Flattery

Familiar Quotations: Flattery

Benjamin Disraeli

Charles Colton

Dr. Samuel Johnson

Edmund Burke

Jack Paar

Josh Billings

Minna Antrim

Oliver Goldsmith

Samuel Johnson

Historic Usage: Flattery

John Locke

Use in Literature: Flattery

Emma

Austen, Jane

Non-Fiction Usage: Flattery

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

Speeches: Flattery

John Adams

Ronald Reagan

Usage Frequency: Flattery

Name Usage Frequency: Flattery

Expression: Flattery

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Flattery

Modern Translation: Flattery

Albanian

Arabic

Bulgarian

Chinese

Czech

Dutch

Esperanto

Farsi

Finnish

French

German

Greek

Hebrew

Hungarian

Indonesian

Italian

Japanese Kanji

Japanese Katakana

Korean

Manx

Norwegian

Papiamen

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Romanian

Russian

Scottish

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

Ukrainian

Vietnamese

Photos:
Flattery

Computer Images:
Flattery