adulate

verb

Definition of adulatenext
1
as in to adore
to love or admire too much it's ridiculous how she adulates that airheaded rock star

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to congratulate
to praise too much a business executive who unwisely surrounds herself with incompetent assistants who spend all their time adulating her

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of adulate Venice pressers tend to fall on the warm/adulating side but this was clearly a film with plenty of admirers. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2026 Greenery becomes an artful layer, softening the building and giving it a sense of (literal) grounding that tech-adulating blobitecture often lacks. — Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026 Turkey’s TB2s became adulated in Ukraine for striking Russian tanks advancing on Kyiv at the start of that war in early 2022. — Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulate
  1. adore
  2. congratulate
  3. worship
  4. praise
  5. like
  6. applaud
  7. commend
  8. overpraise
Verb
  • Tight end Eric Saubert played for him in San Francisco and adored the coach’s wit back then.
    — Andrew Destin, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • The Hilary Shoulder Bag is from JW Pei, the brand that Oprah, Selena Gomez, Hailey Bieber, Anne Hathaway, and droves of other A-listers adore.
    — Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of adore
Verb
  • The leaders of right-wing populist parties in Spain and Portugal also congratulated AfD, German news agency dpa reported.
    — Kirsten Grieshaber, Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Christian Democrat candidate Sven Schulze took to the stage on Sunday evening to congratulate the AfD on its win.
    — Esme Nicholson, NPR, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of congratulate
Verb
  • The latter is embodied by an underground race of telepathic mutants who worship an unexploded nuclear bomb and find themselves in conflict with the apes, as well as the few surviving humans, on the way to a finale that out-tragedies the original.
    — Jesse Hassenger, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
  • With only Lucien, a freshly out twink with more heart than abs, still by his side, Jim must race to find a cure before the disease erases the community that once worshipped him.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of worship
Verb
  • The film is Bullock’s first in four years, and critics are ever-so-faintly praising her return to the big screen.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2026
  • Kvaratskhelia nods in agreement, praising Ruiz’s football IQ.
    — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of praise
Verb
  • Lamb liked to link play, although City also had plenty of joy down the flanks.
    — Rob Tanner, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • As for the journalist, with the anniversary comes reflection on the first responders, those who lost their lives and others who like him, are still living with the consequences.
    — Ralphie Aversa, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of like
Verb
  • Everyone applauded politely when Joontos collected its Bib Gourmand, and when Aseeb and Myazu received commendations.
    — Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Pattinson’s partner Suki Waterhouse, who cheered perhaps loudest after the credits rolled and leaned forward to kiss Pattinson as the crowd applauded his tour-de-force performance.
    — Ramin Setoodeh, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of applaud
Verb
  • Shortly after the news broke, Cuban, the former Dallas Mavericks owner, took to social media to commend Torre.
    — James Jackson, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Gates joined Rodrigo on stage to commend her for her philanthropic efforts with Daisy Chain Fields.
    — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of commend
Verb
  • The result is sometimes overpraising, overprotection, and overindulging children, mixing emotional intensity with economic privilege in ways that breed entitlement.
    — Christine Michel Carter, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
  • As in the case of that picture, East of Eden is backed up by masterful screen storytelling that can hardly be overpraised and is complicated by no message that can be termed controversial.
    — Jack Moffitt, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2023
Definition of overpraise

Browse Nearby Words

adscititious
adulate
adulated
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Adulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulate. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shofar

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All