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1 Definition
To gain someone's favor or approval through deliberate, often calculated efforts to please them.
2 In Use
He spent the first meeting trying to ingratiate himself with the new manager by praising every idea she floated.
3 Word Origin
gratia Lat. · favor, grace → ingratiare L.Lat. · to bring into favor → ingratiate 16th c. English
Ingratiate traces back to the Latin noun gratia, meaning favor or grace, the same root that gave English words like gracious and grateful. Late Latin speakers built the verb ingratiare from it, meaning literally to bring something into favor. English absorbed the word in the sixteenth century, and over time it settled into its current, slightly wry sense: not just earning goodwill, but working for it with visible, sometimes transparent effort.
💡Fun Fact
There's a reason ingratiate almost always shows up with the reflexive pronoun, as in ingratiate oneself, since the effort described is rarely accidental. The word carries a faint whiff of judgment even when the behavior succeeds, distinguishing it from simpler words like please or charm. Writers often reach for it when describing social climbers, new employees, or anyone whose warmth seems just a touch too strategic. It sits in a small family of English verbs, including insinuate and inveigle, that describe the mechanics of social maneuvering rather than the feeling behind it.
