Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To bring (oneself, for example) into the favor or good graces of another, especially by deliberate effort: She quickly sought to ingratiate herself with the new administration.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To establish in the confidence, favor, or good graces of another; make agreeable or acceptable: used reflexively, and followed by with.
- To introduce by exciting gratitude or good will; insinuate or recommend by acceptable conduct or sentiments: absolute or with into.
- To recommend.
- To bring into a state of grace.
Wiktionary
- v. to bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please them.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To introduce or commend to the favor of another; to bring into favor; to insinuate; -- used reflexively, and followed by
with before the person whose favor is sought. - v. To recommend; to render easy or agreeable; -- followed by
to . - v. To gain favor.
WordNet 3.0
- v. gain favor with somebody by deliberate efforts
Etymologies
- Perhaps from Italian ingraziare, from in grazia, into favor, from Latin in grātiam : in, in; see in-2 + grātiam, accusative of grātia, favor (from grātus, pleasing; see gwerə-2 in Indo-European roots).
Examples
“It's doubtful that Spenser or Milton thought that this audience would consist of readers for whom they needed to slavishly "ingratiate" themselves in advance.”
“Yehuda has put his finger on the key word: "ingratiate".”
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
“- CNNVINA GUPTAThe frontrunner for the Democrats in the 2008 presidential election, Hillary Clinton, has been hit by a legal dispute in which one of her fundraisers is accused of trying to "ingratiate" himself with powerful friends at the expense of his company.”
“ingratiate" himself with high-ranking people in the Government of”
“And the whole bunch of folks you imitate as well as most of the folk you ingratiate yourself with, are missing, male as well as female.”
TOC: The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF edited by Mike Ashley
“Now we must invade people's homes and ingratiate ourselves with them.”
The Huffington Post: Charles M. Firestone: Egypt: The King's Speech Where Everyone Is King
“They wish there were guidelines for dealing with photographers who ingratiate themselves with celebrities by creating the most polished of shots.”
The Guardian: Supermodel Erin O'Connor slams fashion world for lying to women
“They also bend their knees to ingratiate themselves to the people who hate Israel.”
Matthew Yglesias » Foxman: Mitchell is “Fair” and I’m Unhappy About It
“Regarding the “list of things we need to change” in this country, I never thought, “having Democrats make nice and ingratiate themselves with Republican op-ed columnists” was on the list.”
“Having won over Uefa's president, Michel Platini, from his standing start as a former politician – not the most beloved profession of Fifa executive-committee members – Triesman attempted to ingratiate himself with the rest of the committee.”
The Guardian: Sir Roy Gardner and co-investors spent £3m in support for doomed Pilgrims
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ingratiate’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Summers Vocabulary # 2
jejune, ingratiate, congruent, cryptic, beleaguer, tangential, impregnable, predilection, surly, dolorous, untoward, renege
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Ritual
Interpreting Ritual / Lincoln
jwjarvis victory went to those doctors best able to ingratiate themselves with key players in the leadership Sep 14, 2010