as in obsequious
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as in sycophancy
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Dissimilar Words
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fawning
Sarah Scott, Parents, 25 Aug. 2025
Time, 28 Oct. 2025
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
Noun
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
Verb
Instead of supporting allies in NATO and Ukraine against aggressive Russian territorial expansion, the United States has proposed drastic cuts to defensive military support measures and played fawning host to Vladimir Putin.
—Time, 28 Oct. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fawning
Adjective
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Carol, a reclusive and disgruntled bestselling romantasy author, exhorts her reticent audience of five immune English speakers to reclaim human agency against the milquetoast, obsequious blob and join her in a quest to reverse the happiness apocalypse.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Might the show — with its army of all-knowing, obsequious entities consuming humanity — be a metaphor for the dangers of artificial intelligence?—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But critics and former employees who spoke with CNN say the AI company has long known of the dangers of the tool’s tendency toward sycophancy – repeatedly reinforcing and encouraging any kind of input – particularly for users who are distressed or mentally ill.—
Allison Gordon,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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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
Verb
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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
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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
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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
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Soon, the teens’ adoration for each other is at risk of becoming a nightmare.—
Carly Tagen-Dye,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Candyman, the Candyman franchise (1992–1999; 2021) Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) finds out that adoration and horror don't mix when she is faced with the attachment of the sinister Candyman (Tony Todd) in the 1992 film classic.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CWD can take months to years for symptoms to appear, which could include drastic weight loss, stumbling or lack of coordination, drooling and listlessness.—
Caroline Neal,
Louisville Courier Journal,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Naturally, the post attracted over 16,000 comments of women drooling over him.—
Essence,
Essence,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
Adjective
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Yasuda ordered his subordinate, Lieutenant Colonel Tatsusaburo Suzuki, to prepare a report on the feasibility of a uranium project in Japan.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
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Indeed, allowing men but not women to have multiple spouses is clearly unequal and entwined with patriarchal ideology that positions women as subordinate or inferior to men.—
David W. Lawson,
The Conversation,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fawning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fawning. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
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