Flatter

v. praise, compliment

n. person or thing that flattens; blacksmith's hammer (used to flatten metal)

adj. having a planar surface; deflated (about a tire); absolute; lying down, horizontal; spread out; tasteless; monotonous, dull; mat, not shiny; having a tone one half step lower (Music)

Flattery is the act of giving excessive compliments, generally for the purpose of ingratiating oneself with the subject. Flattery often, but not always, connotes insincerity.Historically, flattery has been used as a standard form of discourse when addressing a king or queen. In the Renaissance, it was a common practice among writers to flatter the reigning monarch, as Edmund Spenser flattered Queen Elizabeth I in The Faerie Queene and William Shakespeare flattered King James I in Macbeth.
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Verb
1. praise somewhat dishonestly
(synonym) blandish
(antonym) disparage, belittle, pick at
(hypernym) praise
(hyponym) soft-soap
(derivation) flatterer, adulator

Noun
1. a level tract of land
(hypernym) plain, field, champaign
(hyponym) salt flat, salt plain
2. a shallow box in which seedlings are started
(hypernym) box
3. a musical notation indicating one half step lower than the note named
(hypernym) musical notation
(hyponym) double flat
4. freight car without permanent sides or roof
(synonym) flatcar, flatbed
(hypernym) freight car
5. a deflated pneumatic tire
(synonym) flat tire
(hypernym) pneumatic tire, pneumatic tyre
6. scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting
(hypernym) scenery, scene
(hyponym) coulisse, wing flat
(part-holonym) mise en scene, stage setting, setting
7. a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
(synonym) apartment
(hypernym) housing, lodging, living accommodations
(hyponym) bedsitting room, bedsitter, bedsit
(part-holonym) apartment building, apartment house
(part-meronym) kitchenette
Adjective
1. having a horizontal surface in which no part is higher or lower than another; "a flat desk"; "acres of level farmland"; "a plane surface"
(synonym) level, plane
(similar) even
2. having no depth or thickness
(similar) planar, two-dimensional
3. not modified or restricted by reservations; "a categorical denial"; "a flat refusal"
(synonym) categoric, categorical, unconditional
(similar) unqualified
4. stretched out and lying at full length along the ground; "found himself lying flat on the floor"
(synonym) prostrate
(similar) unerect
5. lacking contrast or shading between tones
(antonym) contrasty
(similar) underdeveloped
(classification) photography, picture taking
6. lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone; "B flat"
(antonym) natural
(classification) music
7. flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes)
(synonym) compressed
(similar) thin
(classification) biology, biological science
8. lacking taste or flavor or tang; "a bland diet"; "insipid hospital food"; "flavorless supermarket tomatoes"; "vapid beer"; "vapid tea"
(synonym) bland, flavorless, flavourless, insipid, savorless, savourless, vapid
(similar) tasteless
9. lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting; "a bland little drama"; "a flat joke"
(synonym) bland
(similar) unstimulating, unexciting
10. having lost effervescence; "flat beer"; "a flat cola"
(similar) noneffervescent
11. not increasing as the amount taxed increases
(synonym) fixed
(similar) regressive
12. not made with leavening; "most flat breads are made from unleavened dough"
(synonym) unraised
(similar) unleavened
13. parallel to the ground; "a flat roof"
(similar) horizontal
14. without pleats
(synonym) unpleated
(similar) unfolded
15. lacking the expected range or depth; not designed to give an illusion or depth; "a film with two-dimensional characters"; "a flat two-dimensional painting"
(synonym) two-dimensional
(similar) multidimensional
16. (of a tire) completely or partially deflated
(similar) deflated
17. not reflecting light; not glossy; "flat wall paint"; "a photograph with a matte finish"
(synonym) mat, matt, matte, matted
(similar) dull
18. lacking variety in shading; "a flat unshaded painting"
(similar) unshaded
Adverb
1. at full length; "he fell flat on his face"
2. with flat sails; "sail flat against the wind"
3. below the proper pitch; "she sang flat last night"
4. against a flat surface; "he lay flat on his back"
5. in a forthright manner; candidly or frankly; "he didn't answer directly"; "told me straight out"; "came out flat for less work and more pay"
(synonym) directly, straight
6. wholly or completely; "He is flat broke"

v. flatter, blandish; gratify; encourage; fawn, soothe; woo

1. Lacking any complex internal structure. "That bitty box has only a flat file system, not a hierarchical one." The verb form is flatten. Usually used pejoratively (at least with respect to file systems).
2. Said of a memory architecture like that of the VAX or Motorola 680x0 that is one big linear address space (typically with each possible value of a processor register corresponding to a unique address). This is a Good Thing. The opposite is a "segmented" architecture like that of the Intel 80x86 in which addresses are composed from a base-register/offset pair. Segmented designs are generally considered cretinous.
3. A flat domain is one where all elements except bottom are incomparable (equally well defined). E.g. the integers.
[Jargon File]