English Vocabulary in Use: Advanced Book with Answers and Enhanced eBook Vocabulary Reference and Practice 3rd Edition

praiseworthy and people are praised for their actions.
Other common collocations are 
widely/ 
highly praised, praised to the skies, to sing 
someone’s/something’s praises, to shower/
heap praise on someone/something. To 
damn someone with faint praise is to praise 
with such a lack of enthusiasm that you give 
the impression of actually having rather 
negative feelings.
Other expressions relating to praising
expression
meaning
example
pay tribute to
praise; 
formal
At the memorial service, I 
paid tribute 
to his kindness.
give someone a standing 
ovation
stand up and clap loudly for a 
long time
At the end of the concert, the audience 
gave the young pianist a standing 
ovation.
extol the virtues/
benefits of
praise highly; 
formal
At the conference, the Prime Minister 
extolled the virtues of the new trade 
treaty.
be the toast of
be admired for some recent 
achievement (often used about 
artists and celebrities)
A few months ago, hardly anyone had 
heard of her but now 
she’s the toast of 
Hollywood.
pat someone on the back 
/
 give someone a pat on 
the back
praise, often children (used 
mostly metaphorically)
My teacher 
patted me on the back / 
gave me a pat on the back for my good 
marks in the maths test.
earn/win plaudits
get positive comments; 
formal
The exhibition 
earned plaudits from all 
the major reviewers.
laud (adj. = laudable (of 
behaviour), 
laudatory (of 
comments or remarks))
praise highly in official 
situations; 
formal
The Prime Minister has 
lauded the new 
peace initiative.
These mostly informal expressions imply praising someone for your own benefit: 
to flatter, to 
make up to, to crawl, to suck up to, to lick someone’s boots. Someone who behaves like this can 
be called 
smarmy, slimy or a crawler (all informal), a flatterer (neutral) or servile, obsequious 
(more formal).
Flatter can also be used more positively. That dress flatters her figure. 
[makes her figure look better 
than it really is]
The noun 
flattery is often used in the phrase Flattery will get you nowhere! 
[insincere praise will not 
achieve anything]
A
B
Common
 
mistakes
The verb 
to compliment
is followed by 
on
:

He complimented me 
on
 my guitar playing
(NOT He complimented me my guitar playing).
75

---

Exercises
157
English Vocabulary in Use Advanced
Look at A opposite and fill the gaps in these sentences with one word.
1 A: Do you like my new hairstyle? B: Don’t 
for compliments.
2 At the meeting everyone was 
your praises.
3 He’s not very good at 
people compliments.
4 Mrs Carrington is always praising her pupils 
the skies.
5 It may sound a bit double-edged, but I think you should 
what she says 
a compliment.
6 He never knows what to say when fans 
praise on him.
7 I didn’t enjoy the film but it has been very 
praised by the critics.
8 Look at this reference. It’s really 
the candidate with faint praise.