flummery
Insincere praise; pudding
Flummery is empty flattery or meaningless talk, the kind of insincere praise or nonsense someone might use to manipulate or impress.
The candidate's speech was pure flummery designed to avoid the real issues.
Originally, flummery was a bland, gelatinous pudding made from oatmeal or flour—something with little substance to it.
The figurative sense captures that same quality of being soft, shapeless, and ultimately without nutritional value.
Senseless talk or writing
- hogwashFoolish or untrue talk
- rubbishWaste or nonsense
- poppycockFoolish or meaningless talk
- bunkumInsincere or foolish talk
twaddle · drivel · claptrap · gibberish · malarkey · tommyrot · codswallop · moonshine
Milk pudding set firm
- custardCooked egg-milk mixture
- puddingCreamy thickened sweet dish
- jellyFruit spread, no seeds
- mousseAiry whipped preparation
syllabub · junket · fool · trifle · starch · cream · sugar · molasses
Flattering but hollow speech
- sweet-talkFlatter to persuade
- soft-soapPersuade through flattery
- cajoleryFlattery meant to persuade
- blandishmentFlattering words to persuade
sycophancy · fawning · adulation · ingratiation · obsequiousness · toadyism · smarm · bootlicking
Fraudulent imitation
- pretenseDeceptive outward show
- charadeAbsurd or obvious pretense
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- trickeryDeliberate deception or fraud
duplicity · guile · subterfuge · chicanery · deceit · hoodwinking · bamboozlement · dissembling
balderdash
Senseless talk or writing
bunkum · twaddle · drivel · claptrap · gibberish · malarkey · tommyrot · codswallop · moonshine · hooey
blancmange
Milk pudding set firm
mousse · syllabub · junket · fool · trifle · starch · cream · sugar · molasses · fruit
blarney
Flattering but hollow speech
- sweet-talkFlatter to persuade
- soft-soapPersuade through flattery
- cajoleryFlattery meant to persuade
blandishment · sycophancy · fawning · adulation · ingratiation · obsequiousness · toadyism · smarm · bootlicking · insincerity
sham
Fraudulent imitation
trickery · duplicity · guile · subterfuge · chicanery · deceit · hoodwinking · bamboozlement · dissembling · misdirection
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- trinketstrinket, trinket box, knickknack, bauble, gewgaw
- British PuddingsChristmas pudding, sticky toffee pudding, bread and butter pudding, spotted dick, spotted dog
- Classic Dessertsangel food cake, baked Alaska, Black Forest cake, Boston cream pie, bread pudding
- porridgeoatmeal, porridge, grits, congee, farina
- gelatingelatin mold, gelatin powder, gelatin salad, Jell-O, jello
flummerysincerity
Honest, unfeigned genuineness
candor · honesty · forthrightness · truthfulness · genuineness
flummerystraight talk
Honest, direct communication
bluntness · plain speech · terseness · brevity · simplicity