ingratiate

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a 17th century Latinate loanword, is now normally used reflexively (with oneself etc.) in the meaning 'to render oneself agreeable to someone, to bring oneself into favour with someone':

The child glared at me so fiercely that I tried to ingratiate myself by asking who was her favourite composer—M. Dibdin, 1991.

The non-reflexive use is not standard:

☒ He was going to pretend that his limp was cured, and that would ingratiate him with Matta, help him set his trap—R. Campbell, 1993

☒ Her first records with John Lennon didn't exactly ingratiate her to Beatle fans with their feedback-drenched, primal scream freak-outs—music reviews website, American English 2004 [Old English (up to 1150)C].

(Better alternatives in these examples would be commend him to and endear her to.) Ingratiate occurs frequently in the adjectival form ingratiating:

He was a typical British Council smoothie, with a fatuous grin and an ingratiating manner—James Kirkup, 1991.

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v

Definition: get on the good side of someone
Antonyms: deter, disgust, repel

IN BRIEF: To win confidence or good graces for oneself.

[Politicians] ...appeal to people’s prejudices and passions, they incite their expectations by making reckless promises, they endeavor to ingratiate themselves with the electorate in every possible way. — Irving Kristol, U.S. editor, educator.

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For a list of words related to ingratiate, see:

• Support, Encouragement, and Agreement - ingratiate: (vb) gain favor or acceptance by a deliberate act

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See words rhyming with "ingratiate."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Ingratiate.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - indynde, indsmigre

Nederlands (Dutch)
bemind maken, dankbaar maken

Français (French)
v. tr. - s'insinuer dans les bonnes grâces de qn, se faire bien voir (de qn)

Deutsch (German)
v. - sich einschmeicheln

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - γίνομαι αρεστός, κερδίζω την εύνοια ή την ευγνωμοσύνη

Italiano (Italian)
ingraziare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - agradar

Русский (Russian)
снискать расположение

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - congraciarse

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - ställa sig in

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
使迎合, 使讨好

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 使迎合, 使討好

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 환심을 사다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 機嫌を取る, 取り入る

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يفوز بالحظوة عند شخص معين‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮התחנף, התרפס‬

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