Skip to main content
to ingratiate

to ingratiate

10 8.2
Try to make someone like you by praising them or doing kind things
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈɡreɪʃiˌeɪt/
translation icon : ganarse el favor de
  • Swisher has long gone out of his way to ingratiate himself with the fans at Yankee Stadium
  • seeking to ingratiate
  • attempt to ingratiate

How did he manage to ingratiate himself with all these individuals?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • She tried to ingratiate herself with her new coworkers by bringing in homemade cookies.

  • Gogy's attempt to ingratiate himself had mixed success.

    Academic text (2016)
  • How did he manage to ingratiate himself with all these individuals?

  • You go back and ingratiate yourself with this young woman.

  • There are, however, a few things you can do to ingratiate yourself with a potential client:

    Academic text (2009)
  • Or do you try to ingratiate yourself with him by your silence?

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Instead, seek out a mentor and do everything possible to ingratiate yourself into their circle.

    Blog text (25)
  • I see you've managed to ingratiate yourself with the hired help.

  • He tried to ingratiate himself with the nurses by doing their laundry chores.

  • By late 1791, Gunn seemed eager to ingratiate himself with Hamilton.

    Academic text (2010)

Synonyms

to flatter
vsto ingratiate
100 3.6

Praise someone with words you do not mean to get their help

uses a range of deliberate actions to win favor, not only praise
to kiss up
vsto ingratiate
  • Informal
16 7.9

Say nice things to someone to get their help or a reward

aims to gain favor generally, not always for direct personal advantage
to curry favor
vsto ingratiate
  • US
10 7.4

To try to get someone to like you by praising them or being too helpful

relies on deliberate pleasing rather than primarily offering excessive help
to kiss ass
vsto ingratiate
  • Offensive
8 9.5

To try to please someone in power to get an advantage

aims for favor from people broadly, not restricted to those in power
to toady
vsto ingratiate
1 9.1

Flatter and obey someone in power to get their favor

is used for trying to gain favor with anyone, not only authority figures
to court favor
vsto ingratiate
1 6.8

To try to get someone's approval by praising them a lot

uses deliberate pleasing to win favor, not always by submissive acts
to honey up to
vsto ingratiate
  • Informal
8.8

To please someone with too many compliments to get a favor

is more general and not always excessive in flattery
to cotton up
vsto ingratiate
  • UK
9.8

To act friendly to someone to get what you want

may include sincere pleasing, not always insincere

Antonyms

524 2.8

Cause a person to feel hurt, upset and angry because of your words or actions

123 6.7

To make someone feel alone and lose support from others

How Eager

to fawn
25 7.7
to ingratiate
10 8.2
to flatter
100 3.6
to please
216 1.0

Surface Forms

ingratiate infinitive
ingratiated past participle
ingratiating present participle
ingratiates third person singular

Morphology

ingratiate = gratify (semi-transparent) = in + grati

Formally 'in-' + a Latin-root meaning 'favor' (related to 'gratify'), but the immediate lexical base 'gratiate' is rare and the connection requires knowledge of Latin-derived vocabulary, so learners may not reliably infer the meaning.

Etymology

The word ingratiate comes from the Latin parts in- ('in') and gratia ('favor' or 'thanks'), the same root as grace and grateful. So to ingratiate is to try to get into someone's favor by being pleasant or flattering.