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

Hatton had unsuccessfully tried to befriend the old place on nine previous visits and, after starting with a two-over par 74 on Thursday, finally managed to ingratiate himself on Friday.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

But when Oliver walks into the store, entourage in tow, Matthew makes a play to ingratiate himself with the pop star that goes better than he ever could’ve expected.

From Salon • Aug. 26, 2025

For some reason, he thought that was a friendly way to ingratiate himself to this African American man.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2024

Thanks to him, I learned veiy quickly dozens of little things that could really ingratiate a new waiter with the cooks and bartenders.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

• flatter