Folks who are considered “over complementary” are often viewed as insincere or the type of person to have hidden motives behind being so kind. However, we may often be unaware of an appropriate term to refer to such a person, so this article will be highlighting applicable terms.
What Do You Call Someone Who Is Overly Complimentary?
When we want to describe someone who is overly complimentary, it’s important to distinguish them from someone who is merely being kind. For this reason, this article will go over the following synonyms for someone for is “overly complementary”:
- Fulsome
- Effusive
- Fawning
- Obsequious
- Unctuous
- Sycophant
- Toady
- Gushing
- Adulate
- Smarmy
The preferred version is “fulsome”. This is due to the fact that “fulsome” accurately describes someone who is “overly complimentary”. This is to such a large extent, that they often come off as a fake or exaggerated person. When someone is “fulsome”, it makes it hard for others to feel as though they can trust them.
Fulsome
When we say that we feel someone is speaking in a “fulsome” manner, we mean to say that they are complementary or flattering to an excessive degree. This can cause them to come off as disingenuous and their motives for such complements to be skeptical.
We can see that Cambridge Dictionary defines “disingenuous” as expressing a lot of admiration or praise for someone, often too much, in a way that does not sound sincere.
Here are a few examples that we can look over, using this specific term:
- She tried her best to make a delicious meal, but it was clear that her guests were fulsome in their compliments on the burnt chicken dish.
- He was almost embarrassingly fulsome with his compliments, after exposing himself as a liar only minutes earlier.
- To be fulsome in your opinions and compliments is to showcase a high lack of trustworthiness to your audience.
Effusive
To say that someone is being “effusive”, is to say that we believe that while they are expressing the feeling of gratitude or approval, they are doing so in an extremely heartfelt way. Cambridge Dictionary defines “effusive” as expressing welcome, approval or pleasure in a way that shows a very strong feeling.
Being “effusive” doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is insincere, however, if we do not know this person on a personal level, we may be unsure of their actions.
To further clarify this term, we can look over the following examples:
- My new boyfriend’s mother gave me a very effusive welcome into her home – which slightly confused me.
- My mom gave my fiancé such an effusive welcome and immediate approval, that it was almost embarrassing.
- She was so effusive, inviting me to her clique’s sleepover, that I wasn’t entirely certain of her motives.
Fawning
Someone who’s “fawning” is displaying an immense level of flattery or affection. Cambridge Dictionary defines “fawning” as praising someone too much and giving them a lot of attention that is not sincere to get a positive reaction.
We will often see people “fawning” over celebrities or perhaps, their crush. This can across as both over the top and off-putting.
Some examples using this particular term are:
- She was fawning over the boy band in the most embarrassing manner.
- He was fawning over his crush, spewing his love and adoration for every little thing that she did.
- My mother was fawning over Michael Bublé at his concert – it was incredibly humiliating for me.
Obsequious
Another excellent alternative that we can use to describe someone who is “overly complementary”, is “obsequious”. Cambridge Dictionary defines “obsequious” as too eager to praise or obey someone. Therefore, when we say someone is being “obsequious”, we often feel they are being phony.
When someone is overly obedient or too eager to be “obsequious” towards someone in an authority position, they may have a poor judge of character or be too eager to please.
We will now go over the following examples for this particular term:
- He was being very obsequious to our new teacher and I don’t think she was buying it.
- She was being embarrassingly obsequious to the security guards in an attempt to sneak in without a ticket.
- You were being so obsequious to the new principal!
Unctuous
We generally feel that an “unctuous” person is being excessively or ingratiatingly flattery, to the point where the receiving person is unsure. Cambridge Dictionary defines “unctuous” as people or behaviour expressing too much praise, interest, friendliness, etc., in a way that is false or unpleasant.
Often, when someone is being “unctuous”, we cannot be sure of their motives. They can occasionally come across as smug or showing false earnestness.
Here are a few examples that we can look over that use this term:
- His smile was unctuous and so were his compliments, which made her feel very uneasy.
- She seemed anxious to please others, but not in an unctuous way.
- The salesperson came off as being very unctuous, to the point where the customer was no longer comfortable purchasing a new car.
Sycophant
Another superb alternative that we can use is the term “sycophant”. Cambridge Dictionary defines a “sycophant” as someone who praises powerful or rich people in a way that is not sincere, usually in order to some kind of advantage from them.
Therefore, we can often consider a “sycophant” someone who is overwhelmingly complimentary, but with ulterior motives than merely being kind.
For additional clarification, here are a few examples to look over:
- Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, is undoubtedly surrounded by sycophants.
- After winning the lottery, she found herself consistently surrounded by a number of sycophants.
- She was a known sycophant; someone who acted compassionate and kind, but only to gain an advantage of her choosing.
Toady
We can use the word “toady” similarly to our last term “sycophants”. This is because Cambridge Dictionary defines “toady” as a person who praises and is artificially pleasant to people in authority, usually in order to get some sort of advantage from them.
When we say that someone is being “toady”, we are meaning to express that we essentially believe that they are kissing up to someone in an authority position.
We can now look over the following examples that adequately use this term:
- Donald Trump was always viewed as being a toady politician towards Vladimir Putin.
- The singer found that as he had risen to fame, he was surrounded by an increasing number of toady people.
- She was known to act quite a toady towards her rich clients, in hopes that they would offer her a higher tip at the end of their visit.
Gushing
When we say that someone is “gushing”, we often mean to express that they are being exaggeratingly enthusiastic, almost to the point of annoyance. Cambridge Dictionary defines “gushing” as expressing a positive feeling, especially praise, in such a strong way that it does not sound sincere.
Because of this, we often view someone who is constantly “gushing” as being fake or entirely phony.
Here are various examples that showcase the proper use of this term:
- He was gushing to Katy Perry when he happened to bump into her at his local supermarket, not realizing she was trying to stay hidden from the paparazzi.
- She was gushing over her crush so loudly, that she did not realize he could still hear her from across the busy room.
- One magazine was gushing that it was a truly fairy-tale-styled wedding.
Adulate
Another phenomenal alternative that we can use is “adulate”. Cambridge Dictionary defines to “adulate” as to admire or praise someone very much, especially when this is more than is deserved. We can often feel that this praise is excessive or over the top.
Because of this, when we feel that someone is speaking in an adulate manner, we will often question their motives and sincerity.
For clarity, here are a few examples that appropriately use this term:
- Despite being a convicted serial killer, Ted Bundy was still adored and had many women adulate over him consistently.
- The singer had fans that would adulate over her constantly, some of which, was incredibly excessive.
- It’s okay to adulate over someone occasionally but remember, too much can come across as desperate.
Smarmy
The last alternate term that we will go over for this article is “smarmy”. Cambridge Dictionary defines “smarmy” as being extremely polite or helpful or showing a lot of respect, in a way that is annoying or that does not seem sincere.
Because of this, we will often view a “smarmy” person as someone who kisses up to someone in an authority position. This is usually done for their own gain, not as an attempt at flattery.
Lastly, we will go over the following examples that show the use of this particular term:
- He was smarmy towards the new teacher as if he wanted to be able to consistently tattle on his fellow classmates.
- She was trying to come across as friendly, but in actuality, they thought she was being insincere and smarmy.
- You don’t want to be considered smarmy by other people, so you should try to tone your compliments down a bit.
What Does It Mean To Be “Overly Complimentary”?
When someone is described as being “overly complimentary”, it means that they are being so excessively kind and complimenting someone so much, that it comes off as being insincere. Whether intentional or not, being “overly complementary” can be very off-putting.
This is because folks are often unsure if someone who is “overly complementary” is being honest, or if they have some type of underlying motive to be so nice.