ingratiate

American  

[in-gray-shee-ayt] / 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

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

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Etymology

Origin of ingratiate

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

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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

See Examples For:

ingratiate ingratiated ingratiating

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

Instead, he’s taken a different route to ingratiate himself to the watchful eyes of voters, pulling practical jokes and fascinating hijinks similar to his Instagram livestream at different premieres.

From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2025

“I expect Basta's divided it out among Capricorn's maids. He likes to ingratiate himself with them.”

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has ingratiated himself with United States President Donald Trump over the past two years.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

It relied on Dreyer’s ostensibly disinterested advice, which was backed by powerful superior officers with whom he had ingratiated himself, even though a majority of expert gunnery officers unequivocally opposed it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026

Oil companies have ingratiated themselves to investors since the pandemic by doing the exact opposite: ruling out expensive investments in new drilling in favor of spending that money on bigger dividends.

From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026

Paradis had ingratiated himself at City Hall, befriending top city officials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024

I reasoned that if I somehow kept improving my English and ingratiated Mrs. Smith by the fact, then possibly she would give me more books like Treasure Island each time Granny took me along.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

He would begin a performance with Glass at the piano, bestowing an ingratiating quality of quiet pleasure on Ginsberg’s flowery imagery.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

The bright, ingratiating and charismatic Saqib is a servant’s son on the Atars’ country estate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

He made the most of this connection, flying the Welsh flag and ingratiating himself with locals, who fell for the charms of "this lovely man".

From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2025

Thus far, he seems to have done a terrible job of ingratiating himself to others: Most recently, the office’s top criminal prosecutor resigned rather than follow his allegedly improper orders.

From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2025

This, despite her easily hurt look, her ingratiating ways.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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Related Words

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