fawn

Narcissist that he is, Donald Trump needs an audience fawning over him at public events. Otherwise, he gets bored



fawn

Audio pronunciation

 
verb|FAWN
 
What It Means
 
To fawn over or on someone (usually someone important or powerful) is to try to get their approval through praise, special attention, or flattery. Fawn is also sometimes used—especially but not exclusively of dogs—to mean “to show affection.”
 
// Still new to celebrity, the musician blushed at the restaurant staff fawning over her during her recent hometown visit.
 
// I’d only been gone five minutes but the puppy fawned on me like I’d been away for hours.


fawnAudio pronunciation

 
verb|FAWN
 
What It Means
 
To fawn over or on someone (usually someone important or powerful) is to try to get their approval through praise, special attention, or flattery. Fawn is also sometimes used—especially but not exclusively of dogs—to mean “to show affection.”
 
// Still new to celebrity, the musician blushed at the restaurant staff fawning over her during her recent hometown visit.
 
// I’d only been gone five minutes but the puppy fawned on me like I’d been away for hours.
 
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Examples of FAWN
 
“Around my Paddington patch, my ragdoll cat, Runty the Magnificent, is a street celebrity—a magnet for residents and passersby to fawn over and photograph.” — Olivia Stewart, The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald, 10 Feb. 2026
 

Did You Know?
 
Language lovers, rejoice! If you’re the sort of person who fawns over etymology (one of the best sorts of people, in our opinion), then you’ll be glad to know the story of fawn: it comes ultimately from the Old English adjective f;gen or fagan, meaning “glad,” by way of the Old English verb fagnian, meaning “to rejoice.” Hooray! But we’re not finished yet, my dear. Note that this fawn is not, despite appearances, related to the noun fawn that refers to a young deer. For that we can thank the Latin noun fetus, meaning “offspring.”



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fawn
1 of 2
verb
;f;n  ;f;n
fawned; fawning; fawns
Synonyms of fawn
intransitive verb

1
: to court favor by a cringing or flattering manner
courtiers fawning on the king
2
: to show affection —used especially of a dog
The dog was fawning on its master.
fawner noun
fawn

2 of 2
noun
1
: a young deer
especially : one still unweaned or retaining a distinctive baby coat
2
: kid sense 2
3
: a light grayish brown
fawny ;f;-n;  ;f;- adjective


Did you know?
Language lovers, rejoice! If you’re the sort of person who fawns over etymology (one of the best sorts of people, in our opinion), then you’ll be glad to know the story of fawn: it comes ultimately from the Old English adjective f;gen or fagan, meaning “glad,” by way of Old English fagnian, meaning “to rejoice.” Hooray! But we’re not finished yet, my dear. Note that this fawn is not, despite appearances, related to the noun fawn that refers to a young deer. For that we can thank the Latin noun fetus, meaning “offspring.”

Synonyms of fawn
Relevance
Verb

fuss
drool
toady
truckle
curry favor
kowtow
Choose the Right Synonym for fawn

fawn, toady, truckle, cringe, cower mean to behave abjectly before a superior.

fawn implies seeking favor by servile flattery or exaggerated attention.

waiters fawning over a celebrity
toady suggests the attempt to ingratiate oneself by an abjectly menial or subservient attitude.

toadying to his boss
truckle implies the subordination of oneself and one's desires or judgment to those of a superior.

truckling to a powerful lobbyist
cringe suggests a bowing or shrinking in fear or servility.

a cringing sycophant
cower suggests a display of abject fear in the company of threatening or domineering people.

cowering before a bully
Examples of fawn in a Sentence
Verb
a sports star surrounded by fawning fans
a student who could not wait to fawn over the new teacher
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
The Heated Rivalry cast being fawned over by celebrities at a fancy Hollywood party?
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2026
Infantino’s gesture might strike people unacquainted with World Cup history as shamelessly fawning.
—Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
Noun
Those at the rally weren’t the first Bay Area stars to fawn over Liu this week.
—Zara Irshad, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Mar. 2026
This look features petite fawn spots, soft woodland hues, and barely-there detailing that feels distinctly spring-coded.
—Annie Blay-Tettey, Allure, 19 Feb. 2026
Word History
Etymology
Verb

Middle English faunen, from Old English fagnian to rejoice, from f;gen, fagan glad — more at fain entry 1

Noun

Middle English foun, from Anglo-French feun, foon young of an animal, from Vulgar Latin *feton-, feto, from Latin fetus offspring — more at fetus

First Known Use
Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fawn was in the 13th century
See more words from the same century
Phrases Containing fawn
fawn lily