ADULATORY Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

adulatory

adjective

Definition of adulatory

as in hagiographic

overly or insincerely flattering an office flunky who can be counted on to make an adulatory response to the boss's every suggestion

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in adoring

reflecting great admiration or devotion an adulatory eulogy delivered at a beloved teacher's retirement party

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 adulatory Besides being a record of events, the work is a crafty portrayal of kingship, presenting Akbar in an adulatory tone, as an exemplary and divinely favored ruler. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026 Reggie’s solution is to hire Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe), an Oscar-winning documentarian, to make an adulatory film about him, changing public perception and opening new doors. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 18 Jan. 2026 Though the pilot wasn't picked up, Spinal Tap endured, acting as the primary subject of the first film's sendup of breathlessly adulatory rock biopics like Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulatory

Adjective

Though mighty hagiographic, McPhee’s ability to break down a player’s gifts makes a poetic case for the game.

— Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 18 June 2026
While these celebrity docs are hagiographic and formulaic, the interviews with Nadal and family and rivals like Federer and Novak Djokovic do push beyond the surface.

— Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026

Definition of hagiographic

Adjective

Mom and daughter share adoring glances at an event to celebrate International Women's Day in London.

— Kate Hogan, PEOPLE, 21 Apr. 2026
The Patriots’ pass coverage without Christian Gonzalez, their atrocious inside linebacker play and roller-coaster special teams, which give any adoring fan a heart attack at a moment’s notice.

— Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 16 Sep. 2025

Definition of adoring

Adjective

The 2022 spill was the largest ever from the Keystone pipeline, killing or sickening 2,700 animals.

— Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 10 July 2026
But there are multiple Ebola strains, and those vaccines, treatments, and tests aren’t effective against the rarer strain, Bundibugyo, sickening people today.

— Alice Park, Time, 2 July 2026

Definition of sickening

Adjective

Except for the unfettered devotion in the latter is replaced by swooping strings and a gushy chorus that merely offer an antiseptic veneer.

— Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 18 June 2026
The announcement may come as a shock for country fans who have followed the couple through their sappy podcast appearances and gushy acceptance speeches.

— Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2026

Definition of gushy

Adjective

One defense, beginning in the late eighteen-hundreds, was flypaper, sheets of which were coated on one side with an oleaginous substance that lured flies, then permanently trapped them.

— David Owen, The New Yorker, 27 July 2024
Ted Cruz, the perennial front-runner, is smug and oleaginous—hated equally by his colleagues and the public.

— Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 26 Sep. 2022

Definition of oleaginous

Adjective

The ground sometimes stank of the stuff, with open ponds that finally were ordered covered, with spills and seeps from wells and tanks that hinted at the long plumes of oily stuff underground.

— Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
Because grunion are relatively small and oily, many people prepare them similarly to sardines.

— Paris Barraza, USA Today, 14 July 2026

Definition of oily

Adjective

The unctuous and sweet char siu pork jowl is interspersed with green apple pressed with lime and ginger for a bright and crisp counter to the fatty pig.

— Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 16 June 2026
Made with the unctuous 8-percent-fat milk of the water buffalo—animals that may have arrived in the area via the Normans by way of Sicily, or perhaps by the Goths coming from Central Asia—buffalo mozzarella has been produced at least since the twelfth century.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 June 2026

Definition of unctuous

Adjective

Both titles possess the fulsome tones of Miyazaki-style Japanese anime.

— Kevin Giraud, Variety, 29 June 2026
In overturning that verdict, the appeals court said the jury's question should have gotten a more fulsome answer, including the possibility of discounting all the confessions.

— CBS News, CBS News, 22 June 2026

Definition of fulsome

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adulations

adulatory

adult

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“Adulatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulatory. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of adulatory

adjective

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