fawning meaning: definition, quotations

fawning

adj

UK /fɔːnɪŋ/ · US /fɔnɪŋ/

Seeking favor by way of flattery; flattering, servile.

Shylock: How like a fawning publican he looks ![…]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

noun

Servile flattery.

Hamlet: No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee Where thrift may follow fawning.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
Xantippus found his ruin ere it reached him, Lurking behind your honours and rewards; Found it in your feigned courtesies and fawnings.1818, Hannah More, The Inflexible Captive: