Give insincere praise that's less sparkling (7)
I believe the answer is:
flatter
'give' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with communicating as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for flatter that I've seen before include "drier" , "Become" , "Less hilly; show to advantage" , "Fawn, blandish" , "Compliment dishonestly" .)