1
as in to adore
to love or admire too much
it's ridiculous how she adulates that airheaded rock star
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to congratulate
to praise too much
a business executive who unwisely surrounds herself with incompetent assistants who spend all their time adulating her
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of adulate
Turkey’s TB2s became adulated in Ukraine for striking Russian tanks advancing on Kyiv at the start of that war in early 2022.
—
Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulate
Verb
-
Before long, he is totally shunned from the scene that once adored him.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
-
Rose petals thrown into the air slightly obstructed the view of her adoring fans like a beautiful red snowstorm.—
Maxwell Adler,
Vanity Fair,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Blue Collar fans flooded the comments on the Instagram post, congratulating Serfer for building an institution that will forever be part of Miami’s culinary history.—
Amy Reyes,
Miami Herald,
16 May 2026
-
Gil’s excited parents Annah (Clémentine Célarie) and Alain (Christian Benedetti) arrive along with her friends Agnes (Mina Kavani) and Ibrahim (Oussama Kheddam) to congratulate her.—
Alissa Simon,
Variety,
16 May 2026
Verb
-
Those critics referenced the golden calf idol worshipped by the Israelites before Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus.—
Joseph Konig,
PEOPLE,
16 May 2026
-
For nearly five centuries, emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties came here to worship Heaven and pray for good harvests.—
Xianda Huang,
The Conversation,
16 May 2026
Verb
-
Passed in the final days of session and signed into law by Lamont earlier this week, the bill was praised as a massive victory for the state’s labor community and has been strongly embraced by unions and workers advocacy groups.—
P.R. Lockhart,
Hartford Courant,
17 May 2026
-
This brings me back to the students who booed the real-estate developer praising AI.—
Hope Loudon,
The Orlando Sentinel,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
The Crusaders do not like to share.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 May 2026
-
Group of beginners, hobbyists and professionals who like to take and share photos.—
Staff Report,
Baltimore Sun,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
When Vargas concluded, the Cannes audience applauded mid-movie.—
Jada Yuan,
HollywoodReporter,
19 May 2026
-
Both Judge Lang and Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden applauded the victim’s courage.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
In his latest letter, Uthmeier commended the league for altering the Rooney Rule language on its website after receiving his initial warning letter in March but added the revisions raise more questions.—
Rob Maaddi,
Chicago Tribune,
13 May 2026
-
The actor described working with Madonna in Italy and commended her work ethic.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
The result is sometimes overpraising, overprotection, and overindulging children, mixing emotional intensity with economic privilege in ways that breed entitlement.—
Christine Michel Carter,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
-
Know-nothings pretend that Schrader’s Bressonian mannerisms reveal the spiritual depths of contemporary crisis, when, in fact, Master Gardener repeats the same social-collapse paranoia that made secular reviewers overpraise the religious, racial, suicide-bomber topics of First Reformed.—
Armond White,
National Review,
24 May 2023
Cite this Entry
“Adulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulate. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
