I am looking for an English word that means "someone who craves(or
loves) praises".  A real English word, not a fad, must be able to look
it up in a major English dictionary.

Howdy felbi-ga,

There is "toady" and "sycophant" as well.

Toady - http://www.answers.com/toady
Sycophant - http://www.answers.com/sycophant

Please let me know if either one work for you.  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

denco-ga,

Not really, "toady" and "sycophant" would be people "giving" the
praises, I am looking for a word to describe the person on the
"receiving" end.

A person who is importunate is close-- "expressing earnest entreaty;
'the appealing and frightened look worn by an injured dog'. "

If we were to make a neologism, the word would be "laudatious."

importunate may be close, but does not specifically refer to someone
who likes praises.

Not looking to make a neologism, in any case, "laudatious" would only
refer to the person "giving" the praise, not "receiving".

Hi felbi,

It sounds like you're talking about an "approval-seeker," which is,
unfortunately, two words! :)

Emjay-ga

Hi Emjay

I suppose the person I am describing would be an "approval-seeker" if
you look deep down at her psychology.  However, I am just looking for
a simple word to describe the "praise-craving" side of it....and so
far I haven't had much luck...I've been looking for this word for the
past 3-4 years.

Hey felbi,

I think you are looking for a Histrionic personality.

You will notice that according to this dictionary definition it may
not be literal...
http://www.answers.com/histrionic&r=67

but usage indicates it may be as close as you are going to find to
what you may be looking for.

Histrionic Personality Disorder:
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe06.html

Health:
http://open-site.org/Health/Conditions_and_Diseases/Psychiatric_Disorders/Personality/Histrionic/

I hope this helps you get to what you are looking for.

preclaro

It would be a little excessive to call her histrionic...she just liked
being praised...

How about 'eulogiaphile'?

(Ok, I confess, I made it up, but it sure sounds authoritative, doesn't it?)
According to a Greek-English dictionary, 'eulogia' means 'praise' or 'glory'.

How about "narcissistic"?

I was also thinking of narcissistic when I first spotted this
question, but I believe that such persons are so pleased or infatuated
with themselves that they don't feel the need to seek the approval of
others.

What about a good German word?  If "angst" has entered the English
vocabulary, why not "lobsuchend", certainly also a psychological
weakness  - and easy to pronounce?

Myoarin, note that Felbi-ga refers to "someone who craves (or loves)
praises" - what I think a narcissist does - instead of someone who
seeks approval. However, I guess s/he must have already discarded it
if s/he's being searching the appropriate word for so long. If so, it
might be because narcissist or narcissistic denotes, at first,
excessive self-esteem, and the love for praise as a consequence.

ha, a search for "eulogiaphile" in google turns up this page...you may
actually turn it into a real word:)

Anyway, narcissistic was probably the first word I discarded.