ingrate
Americannoun
-
ingrates
plural
adjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ingrate
1350–1400; Middle English ingrat < Latin ingrātus ungrateful. See in- 3, grateful
Explanation
If your kind act of buying a donut for your friend gets you nothing but a complaint that the chocolate icing looks runny, then it sounds like your pal is an ingrate, someone who is not thankful for others' kindness. The noun ingrate comes for the Latin word ingratus, a combination of in-, meaning “not,” and gratus, or “grateful.” That pretty much sums up an ingrate: not grateful. It describes someone who tends to act this way in general, rarely acknowledging others' generosity, or even worse, seeming to expect special treatment. You can tell someone is an ingrate by what isn't said: "thank you" and "I appreciate what you've done for me."
Vocabulary lists containing ingrate
Negatives with "in"
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Curmudgeon, Cantankerous and Churlish: Grouchy Words
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This Week in Words: October 1 - 6, 2017
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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.
See Examples For:
Even if doing so served only to save an ingrate from herself.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 23, 2022
He spoke of his estrangement from the game, of how, because of his refusal to indulge in the celebrations it offered him, he was viewed in some quarters as an ingrate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
That outraged Fleetwood’s parents as well as hers, who all viewed her as an ingrate who didn’t appreciate the rich life she’d been given.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 30, 2020
When “Life with Picasso” first came out, this kind of anecdote did not go over well with Picasso’s supporters, who denounced Gilot as a spiteful ingrate and rushed in to avenge the great man.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 15, 2019
"Besides, your mother is suffering overtime. God only knows why she loves an ingrate like you, but she does."
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
To Villanueva, all the litigation, as well as the senior officials who have gone on medical leave, are just more examples of him being wronged by ingrates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2022
Instead, an aide to Ramzan Kadyrov, the autocrat who runs Chechnya, berated them at length on television as ingrates and forced them to recant.
From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2022
So they feel they've got these ingrates who are their subjects, who are providing no level of appreciation for how much pain they have endured.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2020
Scalia said sarcastically: “These plaintiffs are ingrates, right? You’re really helping them?”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2015
These benefits are not addressed to ingrates, as was proved by the profound sorrow that reigned in the little city when the death of the benefactor of Creusot was learned.—Science et Nature.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 488, May 9, 1885 by Various
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
