adulate

American  

[aj-uh-leyt] / ˈædʒ əˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

adulated, adulating

1. to show excessive admiration or devotion to; flatter or admire servilely.

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adulate British  

/ ˈædjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to flatter or praise obsequiously

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Other Word Forms

• adulation noun
• adulator noun

Etymology

Origin of adulate

First recorded in 1770–80; back formation from adulation

Explanation

To adulate is to flatter someone. A lot. Like, drop-on-your-knees-and-clasp-your-hands-and-say-"you-are-the-greatest-ever-to-walk-the-earth" a lot. The most interesting syllable in adulate is the ul-, which comes from ulos, a Latin word meaning "tail." The idea is that if you're heaping flattery on someone, you might as well be a dog wagging its tail, panting for a treat. Not that there's anything wrong with a little flattery. Or dogs.

Example Sentences

They use poetic, romantic language to adulate this criterion lota and refuse to use any other instrument, similar to seniors who reject CDs and insist that “everything sounds better on vinyl.”

From Salon • Jul. 10, 2012

There must be villains and heroes, nations to hate or to adulate.

From Time Magazine Archive

Is the planet so emaciated in human leadership--the Mother Teresas and Geraldine Ferraros--that we have to adulate the American dollar?

From Time Magazine Archive

Men were absorbed in passing events; and literary men generally pandered to the vile taste of the people, or stooped to adulate the monsters whom they feared.

From The Old Roman World, : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization. by Lord, John

It is not that I adulate the people: Without me, there are demagogues enough, And infidels, to pull down every steeple, And set up in their stead some proper stuff.

From Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron