ingratiating
adjective, verb
ingratiating is spelled I-N-G-R-A-T-I-A-T-I-N-G: 12 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ingratiating means “Which ingratiates; which attempts to bring oneself into the favour of another, often with flattery or insincerity; smarmy; unctuous; oily” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ingratiating?
| Letters | 12: I-N-G-R-A-T-I-A-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 84,254th 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 ingratiating?
Ingratiating appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th 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 ingratiating?
Ingratiating has 5 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).
Forms of ingratiating
- more ingratiating comparative
- most ingratiating superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ingratiating mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Which ingratiates; which attempts to bring oneself into the favour of another, often with flattery or insincerity; smarmy; unctuous; oily.
an ingratiating smile.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of ingratiate
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ingratiating in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hypocrite, flagorneur |
| German | schmeichlerisch |
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.