ingratiate

I1N1G2R1A1T1I1A1T1E1
/ɪnˈɡɹeɪ.ʃi.eɪt/

verb

To bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please them; to insinuate oneself; to worm one's way in.

OriginItalian ingraziare ← Medieval Latin *ingratiatus ← Latin in grātiam →
UncommonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbingratiate (third-person singular simple present ingratiates, present participle ingratiating, simple past and past participle ingratiated)

present singular third person ingratiates · participle present ingratiating · participle past ingratiated · past ingratiated

  1. reflexiveTo bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please them; to insinuate oneself; to worm one's way in.

    [H]e would pat the children on the head when he saw them on the stairs, and ingratiate himself with them as far as he dared.

    1903, Samuel Butler, chapter 58, in The Way of All Flesh
    5 more examples

    [H]e considered this offering an homage to his merits, and an attempt on the part of the heiress to ingratiate herself into his priceless affections.

    1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Mr. Donne’s Exodus”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 108

    Her name was Michaela, but the men called her filthy things in dulcet, ingratiating voices, and she giggled with childish joy because she understood no English and thought they were flattering her and making harmless jokes.

    1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Eternal City”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 433

    And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff.

    1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is trying to crawl out from under its rock and ingratiate itself as an "equal opportunity employer" and a friend of progressive movements.

    1991 August 17, Roanne Hindin, “FBI: Not A Fashion Statement”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 5, page 4

    He ingratiated himself with the Kurdish bloc when he stood up to aggressive Turkish rhetoric about the Kurdish border in May.

    2007 July 9, Brian T. Bennett, “Why Maliki Is Still Around”, in Time, retrieved 26 May 2014
  2. with toTo recommend; to render easy or agreeable.

    the Sense of this will mightily indear and ingratiate them to us

    1686, John Scott, The Christian Life […]
    1 more example

    What difficulty would it [the love of Christ] not ingratiate to us?

    c. 1650, Henry Hammond, "Sermon XIII" in Miscellaneous Theological Works of Henry Hammond, Volume 3 (1850 edition), p. 283 (Google preview)

Origin

  1. Latinin grātiam“for the favor of”
  2. Medieval Latin*ingratiatus
  3. Italianingraziare
  4. Englishingratiate

First attested in 1622. From Italian ingraziare or Medieval Latin *ingratiatus, from Latin in grātiam (“for the favor of”).

More words from Italian, Medieval Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic تَمَلَّقَ
  • تَمَلَّقَ (tamallaqa)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
Bulgarian подмазвам се, подмилквам се
  • подмазвам се (podmazvam se)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • подмилквам се (podmilkvam se)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
Chinese Mandarin 討好 /讨好, 奉承
  • 討好 /讨好 (tǎohǎo)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • 奉承 (fèngchéng)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
Czech vlichotit se, získat si přízeň
  • vlichotit seget someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • získat si přízeňget someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • vetřít se do přízněget someone's favor, especially through flattery
Dutch bemind maken, in het gevlij komen
  • bemind makenget someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • in het gevlij komenget someone's favor, especially through flattery
Finnish mielistellä
  • mielistelläget someone's favor, especially through flattery
French se faire aimer
  • se faire aimerget someone's favor, especially through flattery
German einschmeicheln, sich beliebt machen
  • einschmeichelnget someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • sich beliebt machenget someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • beliebt machenget someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • schleimenget someone's favor, especially through flattery
Japanese 満たす, 機嫌を取る
  • 満たす (mitasu)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • 機嫌を取る (kigen wo toru)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
Latin grātiam inīre ab
  • grātiam inīre abget someone's favor, especially through flattery
Māori whakaporepore
  • whakaporeporeget someone's favor, especially through flattery
Norwegian innynde seg, smiske
  • innynde segget someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • smiskeget someone's favor, especially through flattery
Russian сниска́ть расположе́ние, втираться в дове́рие
  • сниска́ть расположе́ние (sniskátʹ raspoložénije)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • втираться в дове́рие (vtiratʹsja v dovérije)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
  • заискивать (zaiskivatʹ)get someone's favor, especially through flattery
Spanish congraciarse
  • congraciarseget someone's favor, especially through flattery
Swedish ställa sig in
  • ställa sig inget someone's favor, especially through flattery

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ingratiate

emaciate
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

ingratiate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ingratiate

MLA

“ingratiate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ingratiate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ingratiate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ingratiate.

Source: ingratiate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.