What does " That it is not meant? " mean? HELP ME! The common view is that flattery is a fraud, a fake; the dictionary definition is that it is false or insincere praise. But what is the basis of its falseness? That it is not meant? That cannot be true ; flatterer can sincerely believe what they are saying. That the praise is false? Although much flattery is false, not all is. I can flatter handsome persons by telling them how good-looking they are. A teacher loves to think that students are telling the truth and that they are sincere when they shamelessly flatter her by telling her that her course was the best offered in the school. Can't the poor teacher, desperate for approbation, believe in the innocence of the students' intentions if they say so after she has submitted the grades and the ones saying it are not the ones who got the A's?