as in fussing
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
a student who could not wait to fawn over the new teacher
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as in obsequious
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Dissimilar Words
as in sycophancy
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of fawning
Sarah Scott, Parents, 25 Aug. 2025
The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 14 Sep. 2025
Rob Reiner is back as fawning filmmaker Marty DiBergi, with cameos including Elton John, Questlove and Paul McCartney.
—Chris Foran, jsonline.com, 11 Sep. 2025
And power structures everywhere reinforce, reward even require fawning.
—Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
But this newsletter is more focused on how Trump and his fawning functionaries speak about and for him.
—Chris Brennan, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Their Instagram announcement—a carousel of the couple's lavish garden engagement photoshoot—has been liked more than 35 million times since it was posted on August 26, with Swifties around the world fawning over the singer's gigantic ring.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
President Bill Clinton gave a speech about the historic moment, but the media coverage was not uniformly fawning.
—F.d. Flam, Twin Cities, 6 Aug. 2025
Ice Spice takes the baton, rapping about how her figure and beauty always keep the guys fawning over her every word.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Adjective
According to Gaiani, drinking or using drugs before social situations is a major sign that your teen may be using alcohol to cope with fawning and to feel more comfortable or confident.
—Sarah Scott, Parents, 25 Aug. 2025
Noun
Social media, then, too, was flooded with morally bankrupt leftists lauding the killing and fawning over the killer.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 14 Sep. 2025
Rob Reiner is back as fawning filmmaker Marty DiBergi, with cameos including Elton John, Questlove and Paul McCartney.
—Chris Foran, jsonline.com, 11 Sep. 2025
And power structures everywhere reinforce, reward even require fawning.
—Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
But this newsletter is more focused on how Trump and his fawning functionaries speak about and for him.
—Chris Brennan, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Their Instagram announcement—a carousel of the couple's lavish garden engagement photoshoot—has been liked more than 35 million times since it was posted on August 26, with Swifties around the world fawning over the singer's gigantic ring.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
President Bill Clinton gave a speech about the historic moment, but the media coverage was not uniformly fawning.
—F.d. Flam, Twin Cities, 6 Aug. 2025
Ice Spice takes the baton, rapping about how her figure and beauty always keep the guys fawning over her every word.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fawning
Verb
-
With five blades sandwiched between two moisturizing bars, this razor speeds up the entire process (no fussing around with shaving cream), nourishing dry skin and making nicks a rare occurrence.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
-
This was the mid 1980s and tandem skydiving hadn’t been popularized yet, so his father, Roger, adjusted accordingly by stuffing carpet padding into the leg pads to stop him from fussing.—
Angelina Liu,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Western leaders have sought to paper over these inconvenient truths, including at their June G-7 and NATO summits, with obsequious efforts to flatter, humor, and cajole Trump.—
Stewart Patrick,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Von der Leyen did not appear obsequious in her meeting with Trump.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
29 July 2025
Noun
-
The company had also strengthened ChatGPT’s mental health guardrails at various points after Adam's death in April, especially after GPT-4o faced scrutiny over its excessive sycophancy.—
Angela Yang,
NBC news,
17 Sep. 2025
-
As noted above, the emphasis was on the states of evil, sycophancy, and hallucination.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Well, then it’s being stolen right out from under its retracting proboscis, which is actually just another drooling head that lives in its mouth.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
-
The most common symptoms of teething include drooling, putting fingers or fists in their mouth, swollen or puffy gums, difficulty sleeping, crankiness and fussiness, per the institution.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
-
His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Noun
-
Gladys Knight struggles but met with adoration The adoring audience didn't need an opening hype video to recognize how special this single-show lineup was - but admittedly Knight, 81, was having a harder night.—
Piet Levy,
jsonline.com,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Thousands stomped in the bleachers, creating rumbling waves of adoration.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
People who climb upward by sacrificing their integrity to slavish subservience almost always fall on their faces eventually.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
21 Aug. 2025
-
The film’s slavish dedication to its source material — the challenging of which would open its own can of worms — demands ignoring all potential complexity in favor of didactic conclusions.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
19 June 2025
Verb
-
Flattering, placating, and kowtowing only seem to spark escalating demands while defiance risks retaliation.—
Jeff Kingston,
Time,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Pushback by viewers in Sinclair and Nexstar’s ABC markets, and the perception that the companies are kowtowing to the FCC chairman’s anti-liberal ideology, could be a factor to lead the companies to relent.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fawning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fawning. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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