Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use flattery in a sentence

19 example sentences · noun

Flattery means excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour. Example: “Don't you know that some of his contributions here are pure flattery?”

Examples of flattery by meaning

nounExcessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour.

  • Don't you know that some of his contributions here are pure flattery?
  • Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

More sentences with flattery

  • I didn’t appreciate his particular brand of flattery.From the entry brand
  • They say that mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery, but I still think I'm being mocked when he acts just like me.From the entry mimicry
  • I knew I was a princess and I did not need flattery to inflate my ego.2008 March, Antonia Urduja Roberts, Schizo-Whispers: My Autobiography, Athena Press, →ISBN, page 181. From the entry princessness
  • Success, however, is often their undoing, praise and flattery are inclined to make them have “swelled heads.”1987, The Book of Fate & Fortune: Numerology & Astrology, Orient Paperbacks, published 2008, →ISBN, page 177. From the entry swelled head
  • Dozens of walls were covered with arrases like acts of homage, recognition, or flattery.1982, Stephen R. Donaldson, The One Tree, page 241. From the entry arras
  • No foot-kisser of the client, no singer of sweet flatteries into the ear of the agency chief.1938, Advertising & Selling, volume 31, numbers 1-7, page 100. From the entry footkisser
  • Challenger plumed himself like some unwieldy bird under the influence of flattery.1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine. From the entry plume
  • It was intended as an obsequious flattery of the Condesa, and was untrue.1927, Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, page 20. From the entry obsequious
  • Mr Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC. From the entry evening
  • He needed constant reassurances and was easily influenced by flattery.2017, Joe Wendel, Justice Denied: An Historical Sojourn, Archway Publishing, →ISBN, unnumbered page. From the entry the bride at every wedding
  • But this wasn't flattery, Red was working.2014 September 22, Kristy McCaffrey, The Dove: Historical Western Romance, K. McCaffrey LLC, →ISBN. From the entry raise someone's shackles
  • This they did, Paul says, when by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.2012, Colin G. Kruse, Paul's Letter to the Romans, →ISBN. From the entry smooth talk
  • Speakers of the House of Commons ranked only slightly below heiresses-presumptive in Toland’s list of proper recipients of flattery.1982, Robert E. Sullivan, “John Toland: A Portrait”, in John Toland and the Deist Controversy: A Study in Adaptations (Harvard Historical…. From the entry heiress-presumptive
  • O mortal, eschew falsehood and flattery.1963, M. Arthur Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion: its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, page 7. From the entry falsehood
  • His requirement for compliments, flattery, adoration and awards is so continual and extreme that it is of cartoonish proportions, with all the garishness that characterizes the most exaggerated satire.2026 February 19, Lisa Langhammer, “Trump’s ‘Cartoonish’ Monuments to Himself”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry cartoonish
  • Wherever Gen Z gathers these days, a 0.5 selfie is almost bound to be taken, capturing the moment with random flattery — or comical lack thereof.2022 July 3, Kalley Huang, “The Rise of the 0.5 Selfie”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry thereof
  • Gentle or simple, man or woman, never came in for flattery at his hand, and hence his criticism of Lady Charlotte's work is worth pages of eulogistic comment.2011, Charles Wilkins, History of the Iron, Steel, Tinplate and Other Trades of Wales, →ISBN, page 129. From the entry gentle or simple

Meaning of flattery

  1. noun Excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour.
  2. noun An instance of excessive praise.

Full definition of flattery

Questions about flattery in a sentence

How do you use flattery in a sentence?
Flattery is used as a noun. For example: “Don't you know that some of his contributions here are pure flattery?”
What is a short sentence with flattery?
“O mortal, eschew falsehood and flattery.”
What does flattery mean?
Flattery means excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: flattery (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use flattery in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/flattery. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.