ingratiate

American  

[in-grey-shee-eyt] / ɪnˈgreɪ ʃiˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

ingratiated, ingratiating

1. to establish (oneself or another person) in the favor or good graces of someone, especially by deliberate effort (usually followed bywith ).

   He ingratiated himself with all the guests.

   She ingratiated her colleagues with her well-researched project proposal.

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ingratiate British  

/ ɪnˈɡreɪʃɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. to place (oneself) purposely in the favour (of another)

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Other Word Forms

• ingratiating
  adjective
• ingratiatingly
  adverb
• ingratiation
  noun
• ingratiatory
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ingratiate

First recorded in 1615–25; perhaps from Latin in grātiam “into favor,” after Italian ingraziare; see in, grace, -ate ¹

Explanation

To ingratiate is to make obvious efforts to gain someone's favor, in other words — to kiss up to someone. Ingratiate has not strayed much from its Latin roots, in gratiam, (in plus gratia meaning "favor") which means "in favor" or "for the favor of." To ingratiate is to gain the favor of someone by doing lots of favors to the point of being a nudge. Like the teacher's pet who answers every question, stays after class to clean the chalkboard, and brings the teacher an apple every day. When you ingratiate yourself to people, you risk annoying them — like a little dog nipping at their heels.

Example Sentences

Ross, meanwhile, is trying to ingratiate himself with and improve the local community by funding scholarships for hundreds of local public high-school students to attend a nearby community college.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Sir Keir, like Emmanuel Macron before him, had sought to ingratiate himself with the wildly unpredictable American president, convinced that was the pragmatic course of action.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2025

But while individuals may flatter him and ingratiate themselves, the market doesn’t.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2025

Andy looks like a human adult but behaves like an awkward, stammering middle-schooler eager to ingratiate himself with his peers by telling toothless jokes straight out of a Scholastic pun manual.

From Salon • Aug. 26, 2024

To be sure, the Ptolemies did commission massive new temples in the ancient style, largely to help the Macedonian rulers ingratiate themselves with their native subjects.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

Related Words

• flatter