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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
flatter
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
very
▪ Mr. Marlow I am very flattered, Mr. Speaker.
■ NOUN
attention
▪ She was flattered by their attention and affection, but it was wholly innocuous.
▪ I was really flattered by his attentions.
▪ She was flattered by Gerald's attention and appreciative of his very real concern for her health and her general comfort.
▪ Mr Lowell paid her a flattering amount of attention.
▪ Her lack of reserve delighted him and he could not help but be flattered by her attention.
■ VERB
feel
▪ He thought she was graceful ... she felt idiotically breathless, flattered, confused - and even more alarmed than ever.
▪ She will also feel flattered, imagining that he has come to win her back.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Flatter her a little - tell her she's beautiful.
▪ Don't try to flatter me!
▪ His flattering comments embarrassed her.
▪ Lewis' novel doesn't flatter Midwestern attitudes and morals.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But, of course, I am sneakily flattered.
▪ He agreed to do it because it flattered his ego.
▪ I prefer the black to the red because it's more flattering.
▪ I was really flattered by his attentions.
▪ Millionaire actresses in major Hollywood films routinely show more flesh in far more flattering fashion.
▪ This is a spotlight that is as harsh and cruel to the loser as it is flattering to the victor.
▪ This was his recital of flattering greetings.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Flatter

Flat \Flat\ (fl[a^]t), a. [Compar. Flatter (fl[a^]t"r[~e]r); superl. Flattest (fl[a^]t"t[e^]st).] [Akin to Icel. flatr, Sw. flat, Dan. flad, OHG. flaz, and AS. flet floor, G. fl["o]tz stratum, layer.]

  1. Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane.

    Though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk.
    --Milton.

  2. Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed.

    What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat!
    --Milton.

    I feel . . . my hopes all flat.
    --Milton.

  3. (Fine Arts) Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest.

    A large part of the work is, to me, very flat.
    --Coleridge.

  4. Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste.

  5. Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition.

    How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world.
    --Shak.

  6. Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.

  7. Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.

    Syn: flat-out.

    Flat burglary as ever was committed.
    --Shak.

    A great tobacco taker too, -- that's flat.
    --Marston.

  8. (Mus.)

    1. Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat.

    2. Not sharp or shrill; not acute; as, a flat sound.

  9. (Phonetics) Sonant; vocal; -- applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant.

  10. (Golf) Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft; -- said of a club.

  11. (Gram.) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix, or an infinitive without the sign to. Many flat adverbs, as in run fast, buy cheap, are from AS. adverbs in -["e], the loss of this ending having made them like the adjectives. Some having forms in ly, such as exceeding, wonderful, true, are now archaic.

  12. (Hort.) Flattening at the ends; -- said of certain fruits.

    Flat arch. (Arch.) See under Arch, n., 2. (b).

    Flat cap, cap paper, not folded. See under Paper.

    Flat chasing, in fine art metal working, a mode of ornamenting silverware, etc., producing figures by dots and lines made with a punching tool.
    --Knight.

    Flat chisel, a sculptor's chisel for smoothing.

    Flat file, a file wider than its thickness, and of rectangular section. See File.

    Flat nail, a small, sharp-pointed, wrought nail, with a flat, thin head, larger than a tack.
    --Knight.

    Flat paper, paper which has not been folded.

    Flat rail, a railroad rail consisting of a simple flat bar spiked to a longitudinal sleeper.

    Flat rods (Mining), horizontal or inclined connecting rods, for transmitting motion to pump rods at a distance.
    --Raymond.

    Flat rope, a rope made by plaiting instead of twisting; gasket; sennit.

    Note: Some flat hoisting ropes, as for mining shafts, are made by sewing together a number of ropes, making a wide, flat band.
    --Knight.

    Flat space. (Geom.) See Euclidian space.

    Flat stitch, the process of wood engraving. [Obs.] -- Flat tint (Painting), a coat of water color of one uniform shade.

    To fall flat (Fig.), to produce no effect; to fail in the intended effect; as, his speech fell flat.

    Of all who fell by saber or by shot, Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott.
    --Lord Erskine.

Flatter

Flatter \Flat"ter\ (fl[a^]t"t[~e]r), n.

  1. One who, or that which, makes flat or flattens.

  2. (Metal Working)

    1. A flat-faced fulling hammer.

    2. A drawplate with a narrow, rectangular orifice, for drawing flat strips, as watch springs, etc.

Flatter

Flatter \Flat"ter\ (fl[a^]t"t[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flattered; p. pr. & vb. n. Flattering.] [OE. flateren, cf. OD. flatteren; akin to G. flattern to flutter, Icel. fla[eth]ra to fawn, flatter: cf. F. flatter. Cf. Flitter, Flutter, Flattery.]

  1. To treat with praise or blandishments; to gratify or attempt to gratify the self-love or vanity of, esp. by artful and interested commendation or attentions; to blandish; to cajole; to wheedle.

    When I tell him he hates flatterers, He says he does, being then most flattered.
    --Shak.

    A man that flattereth his neighbor, spreadeth a net for his feet.
    --Prov. xxix. 5.

    Others he flattered by asking their advice.
    --Prescott.

  2. To raise hopes in; to encourage or favorable, but sometimes unfounded or deceitful, representations.

  3. To portray too favorably; to give a too favorable idea of; as, his portrait flatters him.

Flatter

Flatter \Flat"ter\, v. i. To use flattery or insincere praise.

If it may stand him more in stead to lie, Say and unsay, feign, flatter, or adjure.
--Milton.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
flatter

c.1200, flateren, flaterien, "seek to please or gratify (someone) by undue praise, praise insincerely, beguile with pleasing words," from Old French flater "to deceive; caress, fondle; prostrate, throw, fling (to the ground)" (13c.), probably from a Germanic source, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *flata- "flat" (see flat (adj.)).\n

\n"Of somewhat doubtful etymology" [OED]. Liberman calls it "one of many imitative verbs beginning with fl- and denoting unsteady or light, repeated movement" (for example flicker, flutter). If it is related to flat the notion could be either "caress with the flat of the hand, stroke, pet," or "throw oneself flat on the ground" (in fawning adoration). The -er ending is unusual for an English verb from French; perhaps it is by influence of shimmer, flicker, etc., or from flattery.\n

\nMeaning "give a pleasing but false impression to" is from late 14c. Sense of "show (something) to best advantage" is from 1580s, originally of portraits. Related: Flattered; flattering.

Wiktionary
flatter

Etymology 1

  1. (en-comparative of: flat) n. 1 A type of set tool used by blacksmiths. 2 A flat-faced fulling hammer. 3 A drawplate with a narrow, rectangular orifice, for drawing flat strips such as watch springs. 4 Someone who flattens, purposely or accidently. Also flattener. 5 (context British NZ slang English) Someone who lives in a rented flat. Etymology 2

    v

  2. 1 to compliment someone, often insincerely and sometimes to win favour 2 to enhance someone's vanity by praising them 3 to portray something to advantage. 4 to convey notions of the facts that are believed to be favorable to the hearer without certainty of the truthfulness of the notions conveyed.

WordNet
flat
  1. adj. having a horizontal surface in which no part is higher or lower than another; "a flat desk"; "acres of level farmland"; "a plane surface" [syn: level, plane]

  2. having no depth or thickness

  3. not modified or restricted by reservations; "a categorical denial"; "a flat refusal" [syn: categoric, categorical, unconditional]

  4. stretched out and lying at full length along the ground; "found himself lying flat on the floor" [syn: prostrate]

  5. lacking contrast or shading between tones [ant: contrasty]

  6. lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone; "B flat" [ant: natural, sharp]

  7. flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes) [syn: compressed]

  8. lacking taste or flavor or tang; "a bland diet"; "insipid hospital food"; "flavorless supermarket tomatoes"; "vapid beer"; "vapid tea" [syn: bland, flavorless, flavourless, insipid, savorless, savourless, vapid]

  9. lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting; "a bland little drama"; "a flat joke" [syn: bland]

  10. having lost effervescence; "flat beer"; "a flat cola"

  11. not increasing as the amount taxed increases [syn: fixed]

  12. not made with leavening; "most flat breads are made from unleavened dough" [syn: unraised]

  13. parallel to the ground; "a flat roof"

  14. without pleats [syn: unpleated]

  15. lacking the expected range or depth; not designed to give an illusion or depth; "a film with two-dimensional characters"; "a flat two-dimensional painting" [syn: two-dimensional]

  16. (of a tire) completely or partially deflated

  17. not reflecting light; not glossy; "flat wall paint"; "a photograph with a matte finish" [syn: mat, matt, matte, matted]

  18. lacking variety in shading; "a flat unshaded painting"

  19. [also: flatting, flatted, flattest, flatter]

flat
  1. adv. at full length; "he fell flat on his face"

  2. with flat sails; "sail flat against the wind"

  3. below the proper pitch; "she sang flat last night"

  4. against a flat surface; "he lay flat on his back"

  5. in a forthright manner; candidly or frankly; "he didn't answer directly"; "told me straight out"; "came out flat for less work and more pay" [syn: directly, straight] [ant: indirectly]

  6. wholly or completely; "He is flat broke"

  7. [also: flatting, flatted, flattest, flatter]

flat
  1. n. a level tract of land

  2. a shallow box in which seedlings are started

  3. a musical notation indicating one half step lower than the note named

  4. freight car without permanent sides or roof [syn: flatcar, flatbed]

  5. a deflated pneumatic tire [syn: flat tire]

  6. scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting

  7. a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house [syn: apartment]

  8. [also: flatting, flatted, flattest, flatter]

flatter

v. praise somewhat dishonestly [syn: blandish] [ant: disparage]

flatter

See flat

Wikipedia
Flatter

A flatter is a coloring specialist within the comic book industry that prepares the inked or sketched comic book page for the colorist with digital art software such as Adobe Photoshop. The specialist does so by selecting the objects on the page and filling them in with a solid color called a "flat", so that the "flats" can be used by the colorist by way of the "magic wand" tool. In this way, the colorist may select each object during the rendering process-to the exclusion of the other objects on the page-so that the object's base color may be changed, or to render the colors.

Because each colorist has preferences as to how the flats are to be done flatters usually work as freelancers commissioned directly by the colorist. Pricing for flats vary but as of early 2010 one common going rate for a flatted page was $15 if the page were inked and of regular difficulty ($30 for a double page) with $20 for a sketched page of regular difficulty ($40 for a double sketched page).

Notable flatters include Jeremiah Embs and Neil Fraser that obtained published credit for flats while working for the colorist Brian Buccellato on the comic book series Witchblade (issues #72, 73, 74) for Top Cow in 2003-2004. Other notable flatters include Alex Petretich, Talon Kelley, and Fredric Paculba, who have worked for the colorist Dave Stewart on such series as Hellboy , BPRD and received published credits for the comic Shaolin Cowboy.

Usage examples of "flatter".

I was beginning to understand my eccentric host, and, to flatter him, I answered that he praised me more than I deserved, and that my appetite was inferior to his.

The female portion of the academy, disciplined by the fashionable example of the countess and the queen to a noble grace of bearing, a flattering condescension, mount the dais, an areopagus sometimes sixty strong.

But when he arrived in Canada in 1934, few people knew much about Charles Eugene Bedaux, and what they were told, thanks to his own carefully orchestrated publicity, was all flattering.

Dobson was infatuated with her, and to be frank, Blythe was flattered.

She was high-spirited, even-tempered, and had a natural art which did not allow her to seem to understand too flattering a compliment, or a joke which passed in any way the bounds of propriety.

But if in these festival hours under the beam of Hecate they are uncontrollable by the Comic Muse, she will not flatter them with her presence during the course of their insane and impious hilarities, whereof a description would out-Brocken Brockens and make Graymalkin and Paddock too intimately our familiars.

All the fine trappings notwithstanding, I flattered myself that, when I held a convivium in any of my houses, the real worth was to be found in the conversation, not the setting.

But the truthful historian of the capabilities of crabs, the duty of one who stands sponsor to some of the species and who has the hardihood to indite some of the manifestations of their intelligence, wit, and craft, must discard the prejudices of his race, abandon all flattering sense of superiority, forbear the smiles of patronage, and contemplate them from the standpoint of fellowship and sympathy.

It is only because military men are invested with pomp and power and crowds of sychophants flatter power, attributing to it qualities of genius it does not possess.

I am sure we should not have had seven hundred votes from your country--report says that you was very civil to the young and handsome of the sex, that you flattered the old and ugly, and even embraced the toothless and decrepid, in order to obtain votes.

But there is room to suspect that the elegance of his designs and engraving has somewhat flattered the objects which it was their purpose to represent.

Cecil flattered and cajoled him, portrayed England as a place of civility and charm, a featherbed into which James could at last relax after all the stony travails of his Scottish youth.

The police, in the August issue of their glossy in-house magazine Surete, publish a less than flattering account of the evolution of outlaw motorcycle gangs in North America.

If they seek an asylum from these sufferings, they find many private institutions, where flattering expectations of speedy recovery are aroused.

He hath made many fruitless attempts to regain the confidence of Allworthy, or to ingratiate himself with Jones, both of whom he flatters to their faces, and abuses behind their backs.