ingratiate
/ɪnˈɡɹeɪ.ʃi.eɪt/verb
ingratiate is spelled I-N-G-R-A-T-I-A-T-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, ingratiate means “To bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please them; to insinuate oneself; to worm one's way in” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ingratiate?
| Letters | 10: I-N-G-R-A-T-I-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 71,529th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ingratiate?
Ingratiate appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ingratiate?
- /ɪnˈɡɹeɪ.ʃi.eɪt/
Ingratiate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ingratiate.ogg, En-au-ingratiate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ingratiate
- ingratiates present, singular, he/she/it
- ingratiating participle, present
- ingratiated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ingratiate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To bring oneself into favour with someone by flattering or trying to please them; to insinuate oneself; to worm one's way in.
- 2
To recommend; to render easy or agreeable.
What difficulty would it [the love of Christ] not ingratiate to us?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ingratiate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense get someone's favor, especially through flattery:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | se faire aimer |
| German | einschmeicheln, sich beliebt machen, beliebt machen, schleimen |
| Spanish | congraciarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ingratiate come from?
First attested in 1622. From Italian ingraziare or Medieval Latin *ingratiatus, from Latin in grātiam (“for the favor of”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).