adulation

noun ad·u·la·tion \ ˌa-jə-ˈlā-shən , -dyə , -də- \

|Updated on: 29 May 2018

Examples: adulation in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of adulation

: excessive or slavish admiration or flattery

enjoys the adulation of his fans

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adulate

play \ˈa-jə-ˌlāt, -dyə-, -də-\ transitive verb

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adulator

play \-ˌlā-tər\ noun

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adulatory

play \-lə-ˌtȯr-ē\ adjective

- adulatory crowds

See adulation defined for English-language learners

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Examples of adulation in a Sentence

The rugby player enjoyed the adulation of his fans.
a writer who inspires adulation in her readers

Recent Examples of adulation from the Web

On the 18th green at Karsten Creek, a foursome of shrieking teammates threw their arms around Haley in a moment of sheer adulation.

— beth ann nichols, azcentral, "NCAA women's golf championships: Haley Moore emerges as hero for Arizona Wildcats," 24 May 2018
The participants’ adulation went unnoticed, in contrast to Lander’s toast last Friday afternoon at the same Long Island, N.Y., research center.

— sharon begley, STAT, "Scientific luminaries threw James Watson a birthday party weeks before Eric Lander’s widely criticized toast," 17 May 2018
Can those who are handed loads of cash, fame and nightly adulation retain their basic humanity?

— chicago tribune, chicagotribune.com, "20 recommended shows to see this week," 10 May 2018
The adulation of the exhibitions will be pleasant, but outside validation is not what has powered her this far, because that can be a trap.

— ted loos, WSJ, "With Three New Shows, Artist Mary Corse is Finally Having Her Moment," 1 May 2018
Walking away from the sense of purpose — and the adulation — that comes with entertaining thousands of fans every night on the road isn’t easy.

— dan deluca, Philly.com, "The classic rock generation is getting ready to retire. Who's going to fill their shoes?," 20 Apr. 2018
Schiff’s notoriety at the White House is matched by adulation elsewhere.

— massimo calabresi, Time, "How Rep. Adam Schiff Became a Central Character in the Trump-Russia Fight," 8 Mar. 2018
Vaclav Klaus, former president of the Czech Republic, was in Trier to protest the adulation of Marx.

— andrea thomas, WSJ, "Marx Is Home for His Birthday, and Not Everyone Is Happy," 4 May 2018
These visits were ostensibly to see parents and family, but his motivation was primarily to hang out with his boys and bask in public adulation as The Returning Hero.

— carl martin, Detroit Free Press, "Fab Five scandal doesn't tell full story of Ed Martin: 'He helped everybody'," 30 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adulation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

If "adulation" makes you think of a dog panting after its master, you're on the right etymological track; the word ultimately derives from the Latin verb adulari, meaning "to fawn on" (a sense used specifically of the affectionate behavior of dogs) or "to flatter." "Adulation," which came to us from Latin by way of Old French, can be traced back as far as the 14th century in English. The verb "adulate," the noun "adulator," and the adjective "adulatory" later joined the language.

Origin and Etymology of adulation

Middle English adulacioun "insincere praise, flattery," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin adūlātiōn-, adūlātiō, from adūlārī "to fawn upon (of dogs), praise insincerely" (of uncertain origin) + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action

Note: On the presumption that it is a denominal verb, Latin adūlārī has been compared with Sanskrit vāla-, vāra- "hair of a horse's tail, horsehair," Lithuanian valaĩ "horse's tail," though this is difficult both semantically and phonetically. More recently, the base of Latin avidus "greedy, eager" has been proposed as a source (see avid), via a prefixed *ad-awido-, syncopated to *ad-audo-, then with the second d dissimilated to l, yielding *adūlo-, "eagerly seeking something, flattering."

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined above

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