Flatter v.¹

Forms: α. 3 flatteren, 4–6 flater(e(n, (5 flateryn), 6 flattir, 6– flatter. β. 4 vlaterien. [Of somewhat doubtful etymology. In sense it represents OF. flate-r (mod.F. flatter), = Pr. flatar; the primary meaning of this word is believed to be ‘to flatten down, smooth’; hence ‘to stroke with the hand, caress’ (a sense still current in Fr.); this sense, as well as that of OF. flater, -ir to dash to the ground, is plausibly accounted for by derivation from the Teut. word which we have as FLAT a. The normal form which flat-er should assume when adapted into E. is the rare Sc. FLAT v. As ME. did not adapt Fr. vbs. by addition of a suffix -er to the stem, or adopt them in their infinitive form, the Eng. flatter cannot be paralleled with Ger. flattiren, MDu. flatte·ren, Sw. flattera, which are normally formed adaptations from the French; it might however have arisen by association of the vb. with its derivatives, OF. flatere, -our FLATTER sb.¹, and flaterie FLATTERY. More probably, however, the native FLATTER v.², an onomatopœia expressive of light repeated movement, may have developed a sense resembling the primary sense of the F. word, and hence have been accepted as its equivalent. Cf. ON. flaðra, MSw. flakra, flikra, to flatter, all prob. of onomatopœic origin. It may be significant that in the earliest instance of ME. flatteren it occurs as a various reading for flakeren, which corresponds precisely to MSw. flakra just cited.]

  † 1.  intr. Of an animal, bird, etc.: To show delight or fondness (by wagging the tail, making a caressing sound, etc.). Const. upon, with. Obs.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Merch. T., 815.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 431. Þat foules at Diomedes temple springeþ water and flatereþ wiþ þe Grees.

1583.  Hollyband, Campo di Fior, 41. Here is a meery litle dogge: See how he flattereth with his tale.

1607.  Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 105. She [the Cat] hath one voice to beg and to complain, another to testifie her delight and pleasure, another among hir own kind, by flattring, by hissing, by puffing, by spitting, in so much as some have thought that they have a peculiar intelligible language among themselves. Ibid., 160. Dogges … who would fawne & gently flatter vpon all those which came chastly & religiously to worship there, leading them into the Temple like the familiars of their God; but upon wicked and evill disposed leud persons, they barked and raged, if once they endevoured so much as to enter either the Wood or Temple.

  † b.  trans. Rarely used in Fr. sense: To touch or stroke lightly and caressingly. Obs.

[1580.  Baret, Alv., F 666. To feele and handle gently, to flatter, to dallie, and deceiue, palpo].

1599.  H. Buttes, Dyets drie Dinner, M. Trout … is a fish that loueth to be flattered and clawed in the water.

1650.  [see FLATTERING ppl. a. 4].

1725.  Bradley, Fam. Dict., s.v. Bee.… While he is laying, the Bees that compose his Train, and have all their Heads turn’d towards his, flatter him with their Trumps, after which he retires into the inner part of the Hive.

  2.  To try to please or win the favour of (a person) by obsequious speech or conduct; to court, fawn upon. † Also intr. to flatter with.

1340.  Ayenb., 61. Þe blondere defendeþ and excuseþ and wryeþ þe kueades and þe zennes of ham þet he wyle ulateri.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 344. Þes men þat clepen hem blessid, disseiven hem and flateren hem, for þei hopen to haue wynnyng of hem.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 315. Ȝif þou woldest flatere wiþ Denys þe kyng, þou schuldest nouȝt wasche þese wortes.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 164. Flateryn, adulor.

1559.  Mirr. Mag., Worcester, ii.

1593.  Shaks., Rich. II., II. i. 87.

a. 1744.  Pope, Epitaph, xv.

1764.  Goldsm., The Traveller, 362.

1830.  Tennyson, Mermaid, 41.

1842.  Lytton, Zanoni, I. i. 5. Yet was he thoroughly unsocial. He formed no friends, flattered no patrons, resorted to none of the merry-makings, so dear to the children of music and the south.

  absol.  1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. IX. 146.

1413.  Lydg., Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), IV. xxxiii. 82. Them nedeth nought to glosen ne to flateren for plesaunce and hope of yeftes.

  3.  To praise or compliment unduly or insincerely. † Const. of. † Also in weaker sense, to gloss over, palliate (faults), speak too leniently to (an offender). † Formerly also intr. to flatter with.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 222 (MS. Cleop. C. vi). Men … þet flattereð [other texts faltreð, flakereð] hire of freolac.

1535.  Coverdale, Prov. xxviii. 23. He that rebuketh a man, shall fynde more fauoure at y^e last, then he that flatreth him.

1552.  Latimer, Serm., 31 Jan. Here learne by the example of our Saviour, not to flatter with any body when they doe naughtily and wickedly: for Christ, perceauing his Disciples to be vnbeleuers, flattered them not, but told them plainely, and rebuked them for their faultes.

1659.  Ray, Corr. (1848), 2. I would not be flattered, I am not so fond of my own conceits: if prudent men think they will be of no use to the public, I am not so foolish to trouble myself and friends to no end but to trouble others.

1738.  Pope, Epil. Sat., I. 86.

Mod.  ‘Your beautiful voice—’ ‘Ah! you are flattering me.’

  absol.  1500–20[?].  Dunbar, Poems (1893), 310.

1548.  Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 198. I neither dare nor wil write … lest perauenture some men might thynke that I flattered a litle.

1782.  Cowper, Table T., 88.

  4.  To gratify the vanity or self-esteem of; to make self-complacent; to make (one) feel honored or distinguished. Also, To tickle (a person’s vanity).

c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 5941.

1560.  Bible (Genev.), Ps. xxxvi. 2. He flattereth himselfe in his owne eyes.

1601.  Shaks., Jul. C., II. i. 208.

1717.  Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Abbé Conti, 1 April. Their power is so well known, that is the emperor’s interest to flatter them.

1791.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Rom. Forest, viii. I am sensible of the generosity of your conduct, and also flattered by the distinction you offer me.

1845.  M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 22. This was intended to flatter the bishop’s vanity, as though it was matter of notoriety that he abstained from more solid food.

1855.  Prescott, Philip II., I. I. vii. 206. Some he complimented for their bravery; others he flattered by asking their advice.

  transf.  1864.  Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 175.

  5.  To play upon the vanity or impressionableness of (a person); to beguile or persuade with artful blandishments; to coax, wheedle. Const. from, into, to, out of. † Also intr. to flatter with.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, xxx. 43. In me wes falset with every wicht to flatter.

1537.  Matthew, Judg. xvi. 5. Flatter with hym [1539, Taverner, Flatter him] & se wherin hys great strenght lyeth.

1579.  Gosson, The Schoole of Abuse (Arb.), 21. As waywarde children, the more they bee flatered, the worse they are; or as curst sores with often touching waxe angry, and run the longer without healing.

1591.  The Troublesome Raigne of King John (1611), 82. For Priests and women must be flattered.

1593.  Warner, Alb. Eng., VII. xxxiv. (1612), 167.

1650.  Fuller, A Pisgah-sight of Palestine, II. i. § 24. 65. Or did he hope with the mystery of his numbers, Thrice seven Altars; to flatter Heaven into a consent?

1667.  Milton, P. L., X. 42.

1706.  Phillips (ed. Kersey), Flatter, to praise excessively, to coaks, sooth up or wheedle, to caress or fawn upon; to conceal the Truth from one, to keep him in the dark.

1833.  Alison, Hist. Europe (1849), II. ix. § 51. 276. You cannot flatter the people: you may easily flatter a tyrant: but to flatter twenty-five millions of people is as impossible as to flatter the Deity himself.

  absol.  1611.  Bible, 1 Esdras iv. 31. If she tooke any displeasure at him, the King was faine to flatter, that she might be reconciled to him againe.

  6.  To beguile, charm away (sorrow, etc.); also, to beguile, charm to (tears). arch.

1580.  Sidney, Arcadia, I. (1629), 52. Truely a place for pleasantnesse, not vnfit to flatter solitarinesse.

1597.  Shaks., Rich. III., IV. iv. 245. Q. Eliz. Flatter my sorrows with report of it.

1820.  Keats, Eve St. Agnes, iii.

1871.  R. Ellis, Catullus, lxviii. 39.

  7.  To encourage or cheer (a person) with hopeful or pleasing representations; to inspire with hope, usually on insufficient grounds. Also, To foster (hopes). † Formerly also intr. to flatter with.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XX. 109.

1393.  [see FLATTERING ppl. a. 2.]

1587.  Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 1351/1. My lord, you are verie sicke, I will not flatter with you, but your whole life and your selfe resteth in the hands of God.

1592.  Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 989.

1730–1.  Swift’s Lett. (1766), II. 123. Now were you in vast hopes you should hear no more from me, I being slow in my motions: but don’t flatter yourself; you began the correspondence, set my pen a going, and God knows when it will end.

1762.  H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1765), I. vi. 137. For this partiality, and on the rising of the Carews in Devonshire, who were flattered with the hopes of this match, the princess and he were committed to the Tower, and accused by Wyat as his accomplices.

1794.  Paley, Evid., II. v. (1817), 23. Had he [Jesus] been an impostor, it was his business to have flattered the prevailing hopes, because these hopes were to be the instruments of his attraction and success.

1842.  Tennyson, Two Voices, 203.

1855.  Prescott, Philip II., I. II. ix. 243. Under every discouragement, men had flattered themselves, up to this period, with the expectation of some change for the better.

1890.  Daily News, 24 Nov., 3/5. The Irish filly never flattered her backers.

  absol.  1593.  Shaks., Lucr., 171.

  b.  To please with the belief, idea, or suggestion that. Now chiefly refl.

1592.  Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 978.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 165, 8 Sept., ¶ 1. Their People might flatter themselves that things are not so bad as they really are, were they thus palliated with Foreign Terms, and thrown into Shades and Obscurity.

1753.  Hume, Let., 5 Jan., in Burton, Life & Corr. (1846), I. 378. I have already finished the reign of King James. My friends flatter me (by this I mean that they don’t flatter me) that I have succeeded. You know that there is no post of honour in the English Parnassus more vacant than that of history.

1782.  Priestley, Corrupt. Chr., I. Preface, pp. xiii.–xiv. If my proper and ultimate object be considered, I flatter myself it will be thought that I have given reasonable satisfaction with respect to it; having shewn that every thing which I deem to be a corruption of christianity has been a departure from the original scheme, or an innovation.

a. 1796.  Burns, ‘As I was a wandering.’

1844.  Disraeli, Coningsby, V. iv. With his powers of eloquence and their secret organization they flattered themselves it might be done.

1883.  Stevenson, Treasure Isl., IV. xvi. Not one of the men ashore had a musket, and before they could get within range for pistol shooting, we flattered ourselves we should be able to give a good account of a half-dozen at least.

  8.  To ‘caress,’ gratify (the eye, ear, etc.).

  Johnson describes this as ‘a sense purely Gallick’; but it occurs in his own writings, and is now established.

1695.  Dryden, trans. Du Fresnoy’s Art Painting, 130. I cannot better compare a Grouppe of Figures, than to a Consort of Voices, which supporting themselves all together by their different parts make a Harmony, which pleasingly fills the Ears and flatters them.

1722.  Wollaston, Relig. Nat., ix. 206. He might perhaps now and then meet with a little smooth way, get an interval for rest and contemplation, or be flattered with some verdures and the smiles of a few daisies on the banks of the road.

1883.  Stevenson, New Arab. Nts. (1884), 120. The beauty of the stone flattered the young clergyman’s eyes; the thought of its incalculable value overpowered his intellect.

  absol.  1750.  Johnson, Rambler, No. 80, 22 Dec., ¶ 2. The earth has a new appearance as we move upon it; the woods offer their shades, and the fields their harvests; the hill flatters with an extensive view, and the valley invites with shelter, fragrance and flowers.

  9.  To represent too favorably; to exaggerate the good points of. Said esp. of painters, or the like.

1581.  Pettie, Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., I. (1586), 4. But if I flatter not my selfe, I have a whole minde within my crasie bodie, and my pleasure is common to other men of good taste.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., IV. iv. 192.

1665.  Boyle, Occas. Refl., VI. x. 222. If in these Faces, the Originals equal the Transcripts, if Art have not flatter’d Nature, and attempted more to instruct than imitate her; and if the Painter have not elected, rather to have his Pieces lik’d, than like, here are Apologies for Love, that can procure it, not onely Pardons, but Proselites.

1765.  H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint., IV. 18. Oliver certainly sat to him, and while sitting, said to him, ‘Mr. Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts, and every thing as you see me, otherwise I never will pay a farthing for it.’ Ibid. (1768), Hist. Doubts, 95. Mr. Hume could not but know how much the characters of princes are liable to be flattered or misrepresented.

1885.  E. Garrett, At Any Cost, x. 169. My friends do not think that my portrait flatters me.

  absol.  1634.  Prynne, Documents agst. Prynne (Camden), 25. For his scandall of the Queene, rayther impietye then ingratitude; a Queene, in whose prayse it is impossible for a poett to fayn, or orator to flatter.

1758.  Home, Agis, Ded. In dedications, especially those which poets write, mankind expect to find little sentiment, and less truth. A grateful imagination adorns its benefactor with every virtue, and even flatters with sincerity.

  10.  With adverbs. To flatter in (nonce-use): to usher in or help forward with flattery. To flatter up: † (a) to indulge unduly, pamper, ‘coddle’; (b) to flatter extravagantly; to work (oneself) up into self-complacency; (c) nonce-use, to call up (a smile) by flattery.

1588.  Shaks., Loves Labour’s Lost, V. ii. 824.

1669.  Dryden, Tyrannick Love, IV. i.

1848.  J. Waterworth, Canons & Decrees Trent, 38. No one ought to flatter himself up with faith alone, fancying that by faith alone he is made an heir, and will obtain the inheritance.

1891.  G. Meredith, One of our Conq., III. xiii. 273. ‘We go,’ Victor said to Nataly, and flattered-up a smile about her lips—too much a resurrection smile.

  Hence Flattered ppl. a.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 164. Flateryd, adulatus.

1665.  Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Warres, 165. His Mind was so elevated into a flattered Conceit of himself, as he imagined she would chuse him for her Husband, being Queen.

1714.  Shaftesb., Misc. Refl., V. i. The Publick having once suffer’d ’em to take the ascendant, they become, like flatter’d Princes, impatient of Contradiction or Advice.

1725.  Young, Love Fame, i. 13.

1888.  The Saturday Review, LXV. 23 June, 773/1–2. The Queen said it was an antojo, the irresistible longing of a pregnant woman, which is an excuse for anything in Spain, and the flattered monarch refused to interfere.