How to Use flattery in a Sentence

flattery

noun
Definition of flatterynext
Synonyms for flatterynext
  • He tried to win his teacher's favor with flattery.
  • Such flattery must have opened many doors for him in the past.
    — Nicholas Casey, New York Times, 10 June 2023
  • But Woodward — much like the rest of us — didn't see the flattery in any of it.
    — Erin Corbett, refinery29.com, 10 Sep. 2020
  • And nude stockings are a small price to pay for that kind of flattery.
    — Alice Bell, Vogue, 19 May 2018
  • That language is the language of flattery, not of fire and fury.
    — Chris Cillizza, CNN, 24 May 2018
  • The singer has yet to respond to Harlow’s act of flattery.
    — Kat Bouza, Rolling Stone, 6 May 2022
  • If Moon has to earn a Nobel Prize in flattery to achieve this goal, so be it.
    — Benjamin Hart, Daily Intelligencer, 30 Apr. 2018
  • The 6-1 guard isn't charmed by flattery about his recent play.
    — J. Michael, The Indianapolis Star, 10 Apr. 2021
  • You can be fooled by flattery and challenged to be at your best in group meetings.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 8 Nov. 2019
  • Host Levi kicked off the awards with some flattery and zingers aimed at the celebrities in attendance.
    — Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY, 18 June 2019
  • Henry’s key, money and flattery, led him to be the victim of theft.
    — Shannon Carlin, refinery29.com, 13 Oct. 2020
  • And not a copycat, even though copying is the biggest sign of flattery.
    — Christopher Clarey, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2022
  • And that’s exactly the sort of flattery that earns hoodies around here.
    — Linda Chong, Washington Post, 21 July 2023
  • To a chef, the sounds of lip smacking, slurping and swallowing are the highest form of flattery.
    — Christiane Gelitz, Scientific American, 16 Aug. 2021
  • In which a scholar reveals himself to be prone to coarse gossip on the one hand, and false flattery on the other.
    — Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Apr. 2018
  • And the flattery and glowing orbs that entranced Trump are unlikely to work.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 25 Feb. 2021
  • There’s a phrase for that: Imitation is the most sincere most form of flattery.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 3 Apr. 2023
  • Gucci doesn’t consider knock-offs to be a sign of flattery.
    — Vogue, 24 Nov. 2021
  • And Vice President Mike Pence has flattery down to a fine art, once lauding the big man 14 times in three minutes.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 1 May 2020
  • The proposal’s now out into the universe, and Devan Chandler Long, who plays a viking on the show, even threw in a bit of flattery to seal the deal.
    — Justin Caffier, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2022
  • While Hong and his team are trying their hardest to get the fakes taken down from the site, the artist is also taking it as a form of flattery.
    — Britt Clennett, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2021
  • Like Donald Trump and so many other leaders and moguls bombarded with the white noise of flattery, Lear cannot hear the truth.
    — Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 2 June 2019
  • But imitation is both the sincerest form of flattery and the sign of a healthy market.
    — Walter Frick, Quartz, 8 June 2022
  • In the Guidepost report, the woman and her husband said Hunt groomed them with flattery and offers to help with their ministry.
    — Shelia Poole, ajc, 27 May 2022
  • In tech circles, imitation is not the best form of flattery.
    — John Brandon, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
  • Trump, always an open door for flattery, had the letter framed and on display in his office in Trump Tower.
    — Nancy Benac, Star Tribune, 23 Sep. 2020
  • Whether or not that flattery will win him any changes in Russian behavior remains to be seen.
    — Conor Finnegan, ABC News, 18 June 2021
  • Like the old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
    — Emily Farra, Vogue, 22 Oct. 2018
  • An ascetic who rises early to exercise, Khama seems to care more for the facts than flattery.
    — Robyn Dixon, latimes.com, 1 Apr. 2018
  • Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, sure, but try telling that to OnePlus's lawyers.
    — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 18 Sep. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flattery.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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