flatter
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To cheer or please.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
flaterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈflætɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
usually reflexive
To cheer or please (with the idea that); congratulate oneself, especially when the perception is false.
To compliment someone, often (but not necessarily) insincerely and sometimes to win favour.
To enhance or gratify someone's vanity by praising them.
To encourage or cheer someone with (usually false) hope.
To portray someone to advantage.
noun
Someone who flattens, purposely or accidentally. Also flattener.
A drawplate with a narrow, rectangular orifice, for drawing flat strips such as watch springs.
britishnew zealandslang
Someone who lives in a rented flat.
A type of set tool used by blacksmiths.
A flat-faced fulling hammer.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To cheer or please (with the idea that); congratulate oneself, especially when the perception is false.
Used this way, flatter is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use flatter
- “He tried to flatter the manager by praising her obviously terrible ideas.”verb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Showing or representing to advantage.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Make flat or flatter.
Become flat or flatter.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.