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
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Recent Examples of fawning
Sarah Scott, Parents, 25 Aug. 2025
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2025
But on the scoreboard and perhaps in the eyes of football fans and perhaps even the still-fawning North Carolina administration?
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Since his birth in 2014, photos and videos of Denny have been shared on social media, with users often fawning over him and calling him sweet.
—Saleen Martin, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
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
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
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
But there were – among the fawning compliments and the conviction an elusive peace was near – bits of good news for Ukraine.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2025
But on the scoreboard and perhaps in the eyes of football fans and perhaps even the still-fawning North Carolina administration?
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Since his birth in 2014, photos and videos of Denny have been shared on social media, with users often fawning over him and calling him sweet.
—Saleen Martin, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
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
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
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
-
Naturally, the post attracted over 16,000 comments of women drooling over him.—
Essence,
Essence,
20 Oct. 2025
-
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
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
-
But it’s layered with a thick and sugary frosting of adoration.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Grande has been vocal in her adoration of Heap since the beginning of the Victorious alum’s career.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
17 Oct. 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 29 Oct. 2025.
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