ingrained
Americanadjective
-
firmly fixed; deep-rooted; inveterate.
ingrained superstition.
-
wrought into or through the grain or fiber.
adjective
-
deeply impressed or instilled
his fears are deeply ingrained
-
(prenominal) complete or inveterate; utter
an ingrained fool
-
(esp of dirt) worked into or through the fibre, grain, pores, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of ingrained
Explanation
Use the adjective ingrained to describe the strong beliefs of someone who has thought that way for a very long time, such as the ingrained patriotism of a 20-year military veteran. Ingrained comes from the word grain, which in late Middle English referred to a certain kind of dye. This type of dye was indelible — unable to be removed — much like ingrained beliefs that are so firmly fixed that they'll never change.
Vocabulary lists containing ingrained
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Vocabulary from texts about Colin Powell
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The facility’s extended closure was widely seen as a reflection of the authorities’ extreme aversion to risk in Kuwait, where uncertainty and instability became ingrained following the 1990 Iraqi invasion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
"I am ingrained in the Makerfield constituency, so for me it's not just about the by-election, it's home, and I really want to represent the people that I've grown up with," he said.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
A lot of this is fans’ sensitivity to ticket prices, but kids also have a lot of options now, and going to concerts is not as ingrained in their culture.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
Ellwood's memoir, published in 1714, shows how deeply ingrained these norms were.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
He’d referred to Assef as “Agha,” and I wondered briefly what it must be like to live with such an ingrained sense of one’s place in a hierarchy.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
