English
ingratiate
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɪnˈɡɹeɪ.ʃi.eɪt/
Verb

ingratiate (ingratiates, present participle ingratiating; past and past participle ingratiated)

  1. (reflexive) To bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please him or her.
    • 1849, Charlotte Brontë, Shirley, ch. 15:
      [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.
    • 1903, Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, ch. 58:
      [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.
    • 2007 July 9, Brian Bennett, "[http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1641541,00.html Why Maliki Is Still Around]," Time (retrieved 26 May 2014):
      He ingratiated himself with the Kurdish bloc when he stood up to aggressive Turkish rhetoric about the Kurdish border in May.
  2. (followed by to) To recommend; to render easy or agreeable.
    • circa 1650 Henry Hammond, "Sermon XIII" in Miscellaneous Theological Works of Henry Hammond, Volume 3 (1850 edition), p. 283 (Google preview) ↗:
      What difficulty would it [the love of Christ] not ingratiate to us?
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