false praise
Hollow words of admiration
False praise is complimenting someone without sincerity—flattery offered for ulterior motives or social convenience rather than genuine admiration.
It may be strategic manipulation, polite dishonesty, or hollow encouragement: She saw through his false praise immediately.
The term implies the recipient is being deceived or patronized.
- flatteryExcessive insincere praise
- sycophancyObsequious behavior toward authority
- buttering upExcessive flattery for advantage
- laying it on thickExaggerating to excess
- blowing smokeDeceiving with empty words
insincerity · fawning · gushing · kissing up · bootlicking · brown-nosing · sweet talk · soft soap · smooth talking · schmoozing · lip service · manipulation · greasing the wheels · ulterior motives · obsequious · unctuous · honey-tongued · silver-tongued
- flatteryflatter, flattery, compliment, compliments, adulation
- Empty Gestureslip service, crocodile tears, token effort, empty promise, going through motions
- hypehype, buzz, spin, hype train, overhyped
false praiseconstructive criticism
Fault-finding aimed at improvement
brutal honesty · tough love · hard truths · straight talk · unvarnished truth
false, falsely, falseness, falsity, falsify, falsification, falsified, falsifier, praise