How will you know if it's a real compliment or not?

I think you can tell it when it is true and when it is false when you know yourself how you are perceived by the others, and it depends on your behaviors and attitudes towards them, I might say " Sir you look good today" to my boss when I really do not mean it because he is very mean toward us, so we just say this to maintain a good atmosphere at work, so it all depends how you are towards them though.

You can actually feel it...:D Or ask that someone if he or she means it...:D But anyway, just say thank you...:D

I think in general, its pretty obvious if the person is being sincere or not.

The true compliments are racist, sexist, crude, antisocial or just plain unexpected. When someone goes out of their way to come up with a brand new insult, that's a compliment! Try insulting someone today and you'll be surprised at the reactions. Most people are thick skinned and love anything new - even insults! "Good Morning" is the real insult because, yes, the person doesn't mean it.

If it a person that you know, i think you can tell if he is telling the truth or not. By the way he looks at you, or the tone of his voice, there are many signals from wich you can tell if is honest or not, you just have to be carefully when he says it.

I can see if someone were to question the sincerity of a ''hello'' or ''nice outfit'' because some people could be a little shady and sarcastic. They could use that as an inside joke with their friends, if they indeed they don't like you or they're just being fake. I suppose it shouldn't really matter, if they don't show their contempt towards you to your face and it appears they respect you, then who cares.

As your question focus on "How will I know?", so my answer is on their verbalizing the complimentary of words the good indicator for me to prioritized is eye-to-eye watching. If they expressed it with no eye or eyes blinking (not winking), I can assume it in both ways; sincerely and maybe also officially. That is my rule of thumb in taking that kind of respect.

Don't you trust your instinct? When someone approaches you and tells you "you look good today" and you indeed feel and look good then it is true. But if someone says you are stunning and yet you feel like you just get out from the bedroom and hardly have enough sleep, then that person has a motive. If you are a boss, that could be interpreted as asking for your favors but it shouldn't be the case always. There are people who give sincere compliments and there are also people who'd give you false ones. Anyways, just try to believe if someone pays you compliment, sometimes it helps boosting your self esteem. Moreover, look at yourself at the mirror if you have doubts. :-)

Hi nbcastillo! The right tone at the right time may just shed some light to whether they mean it or not. It doesn't cost anything to return a good reply and a good smile, anyway.

The less you hear people say about you the more you succeed in life. I dont really care if its a compliment or Exaggeration. I take every word as a compliment. I have the feeling that whatever i touch is gold...so it does not make a difference to me.