flatterer
(ˈflætərə(r))
[f. flatter v.1 + -er1.]
1. One who flatters, in various senses of the vb.; esp. one who employs false praise to obtain favour or otherwise serve his own purposes.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xiv. 4 Flaterers & bakbiters ere fere fra þis life. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iii. iii. 51 Ye that haue ben flaterours and traitours to youre frendes. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 88, I had lever..be reproued..of euery persone, than to be praysed of a flaterer. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 443 A Flatterer is a Dog, that fawns when he bites. 1727 Gay Fables i. i. 77 For beasts of prey, a servile train, Have been the flatt'rers of my reign. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxviii, ‘I am afraid Sir Mulberry is a flatterer, my lord’, said Mrs. Wititterly. 1881 Rita My Lady Coquette xx, You are a sad flatterer, Rose. |
2. Comb., as flatterer-like adj.
| 1630 Drayton Moses i. 118 Three lab'ring months them flatterer-like beguiled. |