King James Bible Dictionary

FLAT'TER, noun The person or thing by which any thing is flattened.

FLAT'TER, verb transitive [Flatter may be from the root of flat, that is, to make smooth, to appease, to soothe. Latin plaudo. Perhaps flat and plaudo are from one root, the radical sense of which must be to extend, strain, stretch.]

1. To soothe by praise; to gratify self-love by praise or obsequiousness; to please a person by applause or favorable notice, by respectful attention, or by any thing that exalts him in his own estimation, or confirms his good opinion of himself. We flatter a woman when we praise her children.

A man that flattereth his neighbor, spreadeth a net for his feet. Proverbs 29:5.

2. To please; to gratify; as, to flatter one's vanity or pride.

3. To praise falsely; to encourage by favorable notice; as, to flatter vices or crimes.

4. To encourage by favorable representations or indications; as, to flatter hopes. We are flattered with the prospect of peace.

5. To raise false hopes by representations not well founded; as, to flatter one with a prospect of success; to flatter a patient with the expectation of recovery when his case is desperate.

6. To please; to soothe.

A concert of voices - makes a harmony that flatters the ears.

7. To wheedle; to coax; to attempt to win by blandishments, praise or enticements. How many young and credulous persons are flattered out of their innocence and their property, by seducing arts!

FLAT'TERED, participle passive Soothed by praise; pleased by commendation; gratified with hopes, false or well founded; wheedled.

FLAT'TERER, noun One who flatters; a fawner; a wheedler; one who praises another, with a view to please him, to gain his favor, or to accomplish some purpose.

When I tell him he hates flatterers,

He says he does; being then most flattered.

The most abject flatterers degenerate into the greatest tyrants.

FLAT'TERING, participle present tense

1. Gratifying with praise; pleasing by applause; wheedling; coaxing.

2. adjective Pleasing to pride or vanity; gratifying to self-love; as a flattering eulogy. The minister gives a flattering account of his reception at court.

3. Pleasing; favorable; encouraging hope. We have a flattering prospect of an abundant harvest. The symptoms of the disease are flattering

4. Practicing adulation; uttering false praise; as a flattering tongue.

FLAT'TERINGLY, adverb

1. In a flattering manner; in a manner to flatter.

2. In a manner to favor; with partiality.

General references
Job 17:5; Job 32:21-22; Psalms 5:8-9; Psalms 12:2-3; Psalms 36:2; Psalms 49:13; Psalms 49:18; Proverbs 6:24; Psalms 78:36; Proverbs 5:3; Proverbs 7:5; Proverbs 7:21; Proverbs 14:20; Proverbs 19:4; Proverbs 19:6; Proverbs 20:19; Proverbs 22:16; Proverbs 24:24; Proverbs 25:26; Proverbs 26:28; Proverbs 27:21; Proverbs 28:23; Proverbs 29:5; Daniel 11:21; Daniel 11:34; Luke 6:26; Galatians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4-6; Jude 1:16

Instances of:

By Jacob
Genesis 33:10

By Gideon
Judges 8:1-3

By Mephibosheth
2 Samuel 9:8

By woman of Tekoah
2 Samuel 14:17-20

By Absalom
2 Samuel 15:2-6

By Israel and Judah
2 Samuel 19:41-43

By Adonijah
1 Kings 1:42

By Ahab
1 Kings 20:4

By false prophets
1 Kings 22:13

By Darius's courtiers
Daniel 6:7

By Herodians
Luke 20:21

By Tyrians
Acts 12:22

Tertullus flatters Felix
Acts 24:2-4

Paul flatters Felix
Acts 24:10

By Agrippa
Acts 26:2-3

FLAT'TERY, noun

1. False praise; commendation bestowed for the purpose of gaining favor and influence, or to accomplish some purpose. Direct flattery consists in praising a person himself; indirect flattery consists in praising a person through his works or his connections.

Simple pride for flattery makes demands.

Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present.

2. Adulation; obsequiousness; wheedling.

3. Just commendation which gratifies self-love.