inculcate

American  

[in-kuhl-keyt, in-kuhl-keyt] / ɪnˈkʌl keɪt, ˈɪn kʌlˌkeɪt /

verb (used with object)

inculcated, inculcating

1. to implant by repeated statement or admonition; teach persistently and earnestly (usually followed by upon orin ).

   to inculcate virtue in the young.

   Synonyms:

   ingrain, infix, instill

2. to cause or influence (someone) to accept an idea or feeling (usually followed bywith ).

   Socrates inculcated his pupils with the love of truth.

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inculcate British  

/ ˈɪnkʌlˌkeɪt, ɪnˈkʌlkeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to instil by forceful or insistent repetition

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Other Word Forms

• inculcation
  noun
• inculcative
  adjective
• inculcator
  noun
• inculcatory
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of inculcate

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin inculcātus, past participle of inculcāre “to trample, impress, stuff in,” equivalent to in- “in” + culc- (variant, in noninitial position, of calc-, stem of calx “heel”) + -ātus past participle suffix; see in- ², -ate ¹

Explanation

To inculcate is to teach through frequent instruction. If you repeatedly tell your brother how important it is to be responsible, then you’re trying to inculcate in him a sense of responsibility. The word inculcate traces back to the Latin word inculcare, meaning “to force upon or to stamp in.” If anyone has even tried to inculcate you with something, it may seem as if something is being stamped into your brain — over and over and over. A key thing to remember about this word is repetition: something, such as a value or a belief, is instilled in the brain by the persistent restating of its importance.

Example Sentences

To tell one’s beads regularly requires a measure of the discipline it is meant to inculcate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

"I think you need to try and inculcate people into an understanding of the structures of governance, how you can engage in those structures."

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025

As Sagan wrote in his 1985 novel Contact, an awareness of extraterrestrial life would serve to inculcate the “power of the planetary perspective.”

From Slate • Jul. 24, 2023

News, said the goal of the rankings was to use data to measure the return on investment for students, not necessarily to measure the values that deans wanted to inculcate.

From New York Times • Mar. 3, 2023

Rut wordless conditioning is crude and wholesale; cannot bring home the finer distinctions, cannot inculcate the more complex courses of behaviour.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

Related Words

• impart
• indoctrinate
• instill