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

Lubinets -- a lawyer by training and an ex-MP -- also faced criticism, with one Ukrainian soldier accusing him on Facebook of being "all too eager to smile and ingratiate himself with the killers".

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

This was a way to further ingratiate himself to the man who called him “Johnny.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Ellison has spent months actively seeking to ingratiate himself with the Trump administration.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

He appeared to ingratiate himself into royal circles too, becoming a director of Pitch@Palace in 2016, and being appointed to the board of a royal charity, St George's House.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

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

If Rulli had not already ingratiated himself to City supporters with that moment against their rivals, then he will have rubberstamped the affection on Wednesday night.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

“He ingratiated himself knowing that one day, he could use that information to defraud clients of thousands of dollars, eventually totaling in the millions,” Savery said Monday in a Santa Ana courtroom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 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

Either way, you'll have ingratiated yourselves with the king.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

Ms. Cho’s Ye-ji is sweetly ingratiating, earnest in her desire to capture the lives of working people, yet she has a self-congratulatory air and turns stiff when politely called to account for her own obliviousness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

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

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

In person he’s ingratiating, charming, eager to please.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2024

“Did you not use enough of your concealment techniques, even after ingratiating yourself with Chandresh to control the venue?”

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

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