Definition

1. Noun:
   • The act of gaining acceptance or affection for oneself through deliberate, often subtle, flattery or pleasing behavior: Ingratiation refers to the strategic effort to make oneself liked or approved by others, typically through calculated compliments, favors, or conformity.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • His constant ingratiation with the boss was obvious to everyone in the office.
  • The politician's speech was a transparent attempt at ingratiation, filled with excessive praise for the local community.
  • She saw through his flattery and recognized it as mere ingratiation.

Advanced Usage

• "Self-ingratiation": A specific form of ingratiation focused on making oneself appear favorable.

  • His self-ingratiation during the interview involved repeatedly mentioning his volunteer work.

• As a social or psychological strategy: In social psychology, ingratiation is studied as a tactic of impression management or interpersonal influence.

  • The study examined ingratiation as a common strategy for career advancement.

Variants and Related Words

• Ingratiate (verb): To bring oneself into favor with someone by deliberate effort.

  • He tried to ingratiate himself with the new manager by always agreeing with her.

• Ingratiating (adjective): Intended to gain approval or favor; charming or flattering in a calculated way.

  • She spoke in an ingratiating tone that made some people suspicious.

• Ingratiatory (adjective): Another adjective form meaning intended to ingratiate.

  • His ingratiatory comments were not well-received.

Synonyms

• Flattery: Excessive and insincere praise.
• Fawning: Displaying exaggerated flattery or affection.
• Sycophancy: Obsequious behavior aimed at gaining advantage.
• Toadying: Behaving in an obsequious way to gain favor.

Related Phrases

• "To curry favor": To seek to gain favor through flattery or servile behavior. (This is a phrase with a similar meaning but is not a phrasal verb of "ingratiation").
  • He was always currying favor with the senior partners.

Related Idioms

• "Butter someone up": To flatter someone, especially to gain a favor.
  • He's just buttering up the teacher so he can get an extension on the project.

Noun

1. the act of gaining acceptance or affection for yourself by persuasive and subtle blandishments
   • she refused to use insinuation in order to gain favor