inculcate
Americanverb (used with object)
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inculcates,
present (3rd person singular)
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inculcated,
past participle, past
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inculcating
present participle
-
to implant by repeated statement or admonition; teach persistently and earnestly (usually followed by upon orin ).
to inculcate virtue in the young.
-
to cause or influence (someone) to accept an idea or feeling (usually followed bywith ).
Socrates inculcated his pupils with the love of truth.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inculcatesimple
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inculcatessimple
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have inculcatedperfect
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has inculcatedperfect
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am inculcatingprogressive
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are inculcatingprogressive
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is inculcatingprogressive
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have been inculcatingperfect progressive
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has been inculcatingperfect progressive
Past
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inculcatedsimple
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had inculcatedperfect
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was inculcatingprogressive
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were inculcatingprogressive
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had been inculcatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing inculcate
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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:
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
To inculcate “patriotism” and martial pride, he invited retired soldiers to campus and proposed putting a battle tank on display.
From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2024
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
These are the qualities that welfare - to-work job-training programs often seek to inculcate, though I suspect that most welfare recipients already possess them, or would if their child care and transportation problems were solved.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
This year brought a late, travel-related cancellation from the gifted pianist Utsav Lal, who inculcates the Indian classical tradition into his accompaniment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Athletic contests are a schoolhouse of democracy that inculcates the habits of civic engagement necessary for a free people to thrive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2024
Despite being physically gone, Numa continues to narrate the course of the film, a deliberate storytelling choice by Bayona that inculcates the theme of consumption as a type of communion.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2024
“One of the things about recovery that I think people sometimes overlook is the fact that it inculcates certain values. Be honest. Be accountable. Help other people. Apologize when you’re wrong.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2020
The Apostles seem to have rightly learned the lesson which Christ here inculcates.
From Pastor Pastorum by Rev. Henry Latham
It suggests a household that lacks rules, or plays by rules other than the ones most of us have been inculcated with.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
“Susanna inculcated the value of tradition and heritage to everyone she knew.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2025
It inculcated a deep, intimidating culture of secrecy among its employees and made them sign aggressive agreements to that effect.
From Slate ● May 30, 2024
Mallory Mills, 15, who roams the sidelines at football games as Toby the Turkey, Cuero High’s colorful mascot, said growing up in town inculcated a reverence for the bird.
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2022
Unlike Charles, she was not careful to put things back where she got them; the freethinking atmosphere at Maer had not inculcated order into her as the strict atmosphere at the Mount had into Charles.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
Authorities also sent Tibetan children to state-run boarding schools at ever-younger ages, educating them predominantly in Mandarin and inculcating Chinese culture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
It’s an irresistible ditty that starts by contrasting a text-to-speech voice inculcating on Isaac Newton with Pearce and musician Sharron Kraus singing about the sun’s mass.
From Scientific American ● May 27, 2022
How should they mediate the tensions between inculcating values of robust debate, on the one hand, and of disciplined civility on the other?
From Washington Post ● Apr. 30, 2021
If the republic depended on civic virtue, women played a crucial public function by inculcating virtue in their sons and husbands.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
Teach her to give.—While inculcating business ideas into the mind of your growing daughter, guard against her acquiring a mere passion for money-making and the accumulation of wealth.
From Farm Boys and Girls by William Arch McKeever
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