† ˈcurry-favel(l Obs.
[See curry v.1 5 a.]
One who solicits favour by flattery or complaisance.
| 1515 State Papers II. 15 (N.) All the curryfavel, that be next of the deputye is secrete counsayll, dare not..shewe hym the greate jupardye..of his soule. 1530 Palsgr. 211/2 Curryfavell, a flatterar, estrille faueav. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. (Arb.) 299 Sometimes a creeper, and a curry fauell with his superiors. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xvii. (Arb.) 195 If such moderation of words tend to flattery, or soothing, or excusing, it is by the figure Paradiastole, which therfore nothing improperly we call the Curry-fauell, as when we make the best of a bad thing. |