What does ingrain mean?
Ingrain means to fix an idea, habit, or quality so deeply that it becomes part of a person's character or another material. In modern usage, its figurative sense is the dominant one: a person may have principles, preferences, or behavioral habits that are ingrained in them. The word often suggests that something has been established gradually and securely over time, rather than adopted briefly or changed easily. For example, early experiences may ingrain a love of reading or a distrust of certain institutions. Although “ingrain” itself is somewhat formal and literary, its derivative “ingrained” is widely used in ordinary English to describe firmly established beliefs and habits. The word comes from an older literal sense involving dyeing or fixing something in the grain of a material. Its powerful figurative meaning extends that idea: something is not merely placed on the surface but made to penetrate and remain within.
verbTo fix or imbue something so deeply that it becomes a permanent part of a person, substance, or idea. It is especially used of beliefs, attitudes, habits, and qualities that are thoroughly established in someone.
- To penetrate and become permanently fixed in a material or substance.
- To inspire or establish deeply in a person's mind, especially a belief, attitude, or habit.
"A good teacher can ingrain in students a lasting respect for evidence and careful reasoning."
"The mentor worked to ingrain a habit of checking every source in the new researchers."
"Her childhood summers along the coast helped ingrain a lifelong affection for the sea."
To ingrain something is to do more than attach it: to make it become part of the very substance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ingrain come from?
Ingrain comes from Old French engrener, meaning “to dye in the grain,” formed from en- (“in”) and grain. English borrowed the word in the Middle English period, initially for dyeing or fixing color thoroughly. It later developed a figurative sense of fixing an idea, habit, or quality deeply in the mind. The English word grain ultimately comes from Latin granum and is related to words such as granary, granular, and granite.
Related word forms
How ingrain is actually used
Formal and literary in style; it is especially common in passive constructions expressing a deeply established belief, attitude, or habit.
Easily confused with ingrain
Engrain is an established variant spelling of the same verb, not a word with a separate meaning.