flattering
/ˈflatərɪŋ
/adjective
1Full of praise and compliments: the article began with some flattering words about us...
- A Kendal primary school is basking in the warm glow of enthusiastic praise after receiving a flattering report from the judges of a training and development award.
- All the compliments are very flattering, but it's kind of embarrassing!
- Cara found this more flattering than any compliment.
Synonyms
complimentary, praising, favourable, commending, admiring, applauding, appreciative;
honeyed, sugary, cajoling, flannelling, blarneying, silver-tongued, honey-tongued;
fawning, obsequious, ingratiating, servile, sycophantic, unctuous, oleaginous, oily
informal sweet-talking, soft-soaping, crawling, creeping, bootlicking, smarmy
rare encomiastic, encomiastical
1.1Pleasing or gratifying: [with infinitive]: it was flattering to have a pretty girl like Fiona so obviously fond of him...
- It is very flattering and an honour to have a portrait that will hang with such distinguished people.
Synonyms
pleasing, gratifying, honouring, gladdening
1.2Enhancing someone’s appearance: I don’t think anything sleeveless is very flattering...
- Stay fit, dress to suit our figure, get a flattering hairstyle, and enhance nature with the right touch of makeup.
- But they definitely don't enhance a woman's silhouette, so as a flattering trouser option cargo pants are a distinctly poor choice.
- Our French photographers swooped in, coaxing her into fun, flattering clothes and complimenting her in their soothing accents.
Synonyms
becoming, enhancing, appropriate, embellishing, ornamenting, gracing, befitting
Derivatives
flatteringly
/ adverb ...- I was reading a women's magazine article about how to dress flatteringly.
- I adored him and also found, flatteringly, that I had become a thinly disguised character in his first novel.
- He was civil and spoke flatteringly of my papers.