fawning

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔːnɪŋ

Verb

fawning

1. present participle of fawn
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp^[1]:

     That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

Noun

fawning (plural fawnings)

1. servile flattery
   • Hannah More

     Xantippus found his ruin ere it reached him, / Lurking behind your honours and rewards; / Found it in your feigned courtesies and fawnings.