What does adulation mean?
Adulation is excessive admiration or flattery, especially when directed at someone powerful, famous, or accomplished. Unlike ordinary praise, which can be sincere and measured, adulation carries an inherently negative connotation: it suggests worshipful, often servile devotion that says more about the admirer's eagerness to please than about the merits of its object. The word is formal in register and appears most often in writing about celebrities, politicians, religious figures, and other objects of public devotion — one might speak of a rock star basking in the adulation of fans, or a courtier offering adulation to a king. It functions as an uncountable noun and typically takes the preposition 'of' or pairs with verbs like 'crave,' 'receive,' or 'shower with.' Because it implies insincerity or excess, calling something adulation is usually a subtle criticism of both the flatterer and, implicitly, the flattering culture that produces it.
nounExcessive admiration or flattery, especially servile praise directed at someone powerful or famous.
- Excessive or servile admiration and flattery, especially toward a person of power, fame, or achievement.
"The young actor grew uncomfortable with the adulation of his fans."
"Despite years of public adulation, the novelist remained famously modest."
"He was weary of the constant adulation that surrounded him at court."
Rarely used in the plural; adulation is almost always treated as an uncountable mass noun.
"The biographer catalogued the adulations heaped upon the general by successive governments."
The Romans had a word for the crowd that fawned over emperors — and it literally comes from a verb meaning 'to fawn like a dog wagging its tail.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adulation
Adulation derives from the Latin verb adulari, meaning 'to fawn upon' or 'to flatter,' itself related to adulationem, the noun form used by classical authors such as Tacitus and Pliny. The word entered English in the early modern period, appearing from around the late Middle Ages onward via Old French and Latin learned borrowing. Its Latin root carries the vivid image of a dog fawning on its master, which explains the word's enduring connotation of servile, undignified praise. Cognate forms include the English derivatives adulate, adulator, and adulatory, all built on the same Latin stem.
Related word forms
How adulation is actually used
Adulation is a formal word with an inherently negative connotation: it implies the praise is excessive, insincere, or sycophantic rather than genuine appreciation. It is typically used with 'of' (the adulation of the crowd) or as an uncountable mass noun; it has no common plural.
Easily confused with adulation
Adulation means excessive praise or flattery, while adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than their spouse — the words share a superficial resemblance but nothing else.