flattery
part of speech
noun (flattery — uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
Flattery is praise that is too much or not sincere, often given to please someone or to get something from them. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and fables, flattery is a trick: in Aesop's fable the fox flatters the crow so it drops its cheese. In ethics lessons, flattery is different from honest praise. In everyday talk, «flattery will get you nowhere» is a joking reply to compliments. Common phrases: «flattery will get you nowhere», «empty flattery», «imitation is the sincerest form of flattery», «use flattery».
examples
- The fox used flattery to trick the crow into singing. tree →
- «Flattery will get you nowhere,» laughed Mum when I said she was the best cook in the world. tree →
- The courtiers covered the king in flattery. tree →
- Honest praise is better than flattery. tree →
- She saw through his flattery straight away. tree →
- Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, people say. tree →
- He tried flattery to get an extra biscuit. tree →
- Do not let flattery throw you off your guard against an enemy. tree →
note
Uncountable. The verb is «flatter» (to praise too much, or to make someone look better than real: that photo flatters you). «Flattering» clothes make you look nice. «I'm flattered» means «I'm pleased by your kind words». Do not confuse with «flatten» (make flat).
In the corpora
- Flattery is not honest feedback; honest, kind feedback helps people more than "Great question!" said to everything.
- Flattery about yourself is not true just because it is nice; you thank people and stay honest about your limits.
- He that denounceth his friends for the sake of flattery, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «flattery» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.