ingratiate
verb
William Attwood
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When you ingratiate yourself, you put yourself in someone’s good graces in order to gain their approval or favor. While the word ingratiate does not necessarily imply that your behavior is obsequious or otherwise improper, the word may be used disapprovingly by those who distrust your motives. The word entered English in the early 1600s from the combining of the Latin noun gratia, meaning “grace” or “favor,” with the English prefix in-. Gratia comes from the adjective gratus, meaning “pleasing, grateful.” Gratus has, over the centuries, ingratiated itself well with the English language as the ancestor of a whole host of words including gratuitous, congratulate, and grace.
Examples of ingratiate in a Sentence
Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2025
Soon the child has become a fixture in their household, alternately ingratiating himself and raising suspicions, and exposing unacknowledged rifts and unexamined secrets that threaten to wreak psychological and spiritual havoc in the lives of his makeshift adoptive parents.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 30 July 2025
He was quickly won over by her performance, but her insistence on outdoing herself ingratiated herself to the filmmaker even more.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 18 July 2025
At the same time, federal efforts to regulate the technology have stalled and the tech titans Newsom ingratiated himself with as mayor of San Francisco have since begun embracing the MAGA movement and President Trump, who routinely treats California as a political punching bag.
—Lia Russell
updated July 14, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ingratiate
Cite this Entry
“Ingratiate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ingratiate. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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ingratiate
verb
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