fawn

Synonym Chooser

How is the word fawn distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of fawn are cower, cringe, toady, and truckle. While all these words mean "to behave abjectly before a superior," fawn implies seeking favor by servile flattery or exaggerated attention.

waiters fawning over a celebrity

When is it sensible to use cower instead of fawn?

The meanings of cower and fawn largely overlap; however, cower suggests a display of abject fear in the company of threatening or domineering people.

cowering before a bully

When might cringe be a better fit than fawn?

While the synonyms cringe and fawn are close in meaning, cringe suggests a bowing or shrinking in fear or servility.

a cringing sycophant

When would toady be a good substitute for fawn?

The synonyms toady and fawn are sometimes interchangeable, but toady suggests the attempt to ingratiate oneself by an abjectly menial or subservient attitude.

toadying to his boss

When is truckle a more appropriate choice than fawn?

Although the words truckle and fawn have much in common, truckle implies the subordination of oneself and one's desires or judgment to those of a superior.

truckling to a powerful lobbyist

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 fawn As per usual, the NFL player was in the comment section fawning over the singer and tempting her with a good time. Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 7 Mar. 2025 Which bishop best represented the biblical calls for serving the marginalized in our society, the fawning cardinal or the prophetic bishop? Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025 But Trump is seized of the issue, has an emotional albeit shaky grasp of the war’s horrors, and is critical of, not fawning towards, Putin. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 24 Jan. 2025 But what does our contemporary obsession — both spiteful and fawning — with Brutalism say about our wants and needs as a society at this moment? Anna Kodé, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fawn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fawn
Verb
  • On top of this, her mother and sister are fussing about her future relationship status, which leads to them plotting some dates for her.
    Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The world saw this five-man group as an ideal of friendship, a community working and living together, fussing and fighting but making rough beauty out of it.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • There’s a reason scouts once drooled over Williams’ potential.
    C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Symptoms from scorpion stings — such as burning at the sting site, drooling.
    Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 3 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Hamlet’s toadying friends, the hangers-on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are Izzard’s own talking hands, popping up to face her like a pair of Muppets.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 Feb. 2024
  • This is the aspect of his production that made his reputation but is sometimes denigrated as superficial and toadying.
    Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2023
Verb
  • Unless Trump’s art of the deal is all about truckling to Putin.
    Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Garbarino enjoyed his time with the Southern river rats and mountain folk, and their refusal to truckle to authority delights him to this day.
    David Samuels, Town & Country, 18 Oct. 2013
Verb
  • Under that system, countries acknowledged the cultural and political superiority of China and expressed deference to Chinese authority—including literally kowtowing before the Chinese emperor in order to trade with China.
    Elizabeth Economy, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2017
  • Amazon, and all of its attendant properties, is owned by Jeff Bezos, who has proven in recent months to have no issue kowtowing to authoritarians for the sake of his bottom line.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 20 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fawn. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.

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