Noun

(flummeries)

A custard; any of several bland, gelatinous foodstuffs, usually made from stewed fruit and thickened with oatmeal, cornstarch or flour

empty or meaningless talk

deceptive or blustering speech; bullshit

* 1940:' '''Rex Stout''', ''Over My Dead Body'' - "Pfui! This is ' flummery !"

* This is the twentieth century, for what it’s worth. It’s not the age of reason, or even the nineteenth century, it’s the era of flummery, and the day of the devious approach. Reason’s gone into the backrooms where it works to devise means by which people can be induced to emote in the desired direction. ” John Wyndham, The Trouble With Lichen (1960), Penguin Books. pg. 91.

Noun

(uncountable) Excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour.

*

, title=The Mirror and the Lamp , chapter=2 citation , passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery , seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.}}

(countable) An instance of excessive praise.