Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Ingratiate

WORD OF THE DAY
ingratiate / verb / in-GRAY-shee-ayt
  
Definition
: to gain favor or favorable acceptance for by deliberate effort — usually used with with

Examples
"He ingratiated himself with Crispin, deliberately ignoring Crispin's suspicion of him."
— Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000

"Ford is also hoping to ingratiate itself with investors as its stock price still hovers around $11."
— Nora Naughton, The Detroit News, 20 June 2018

Did You Know?
17th-century English speakers combined the Latin noun gratia, meaning "grace" or "favor," with the English prefix in- to create the verb ingratiate. When you ingratiate yourself, you are putting yourself in someone's good graces to gain their approval or favor. 
English words related to ingratiate include gratis and gratuity. Both of these reflect something done or given as a favor through the good graces of the giver.

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