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ingratiate

Ingratiate is defined as to gain favor by effort.

(verb)

An example of ingratiate is for a worker to become well liked by being kind to his coworkers.

See ingratiate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb ingratiated, ingratiating

to make acceptable; esp., to bring (oneself) into another's favor or good graces by conscious effort

Origin: prob. via It ingratiare (now ingraziare) < L phr. in gratiam, for the favor of < in-, in + gratia, favor, grace

Related Forms:

ingratiating adjective
ingratiatingly adverb
ingratiation noun
ingratiatory adjective

See ingratiate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb in·gra·ti·at·ed, in·gra·ti·at·ing, in·gra·ti·ates

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.

Origin:

Origin: Perhaps from Italian ingraziare

Origin: , from in grazia, into favor

Origin: , from Latin in grātiam

Origin: : in, in; see in-²

Origin: + grātiam

Origin: , accusative of grātia, favor (from grātus, pleasing; see g^werə-² in Indo-European roots)

Related Forms:

in·graˌti·aˈtion noun

in·graˈti·a·toˌry (-shē-ə-tôrˌē, -tōrˌē) adjective

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