ingratiating
/ɪnˈɡreɪʃɪeɪtɪŋ
/adjective
Intended to gain approval or favour; sycophantic: an ingratiating manner...
- I don't want to win the support of the Conservative group in the parliament in a wheedling, ingratiating or deal-making way, but because my colleagues acknowledge that I'm the best to lead that group.
- Nor did he have an ingratiating, slimy, or arrogant manner.
- He is outgoing, with the ingratiating manner of one destined for politics.
Synonyms
sycophantic, toadying, fawning, crawling, creeping, unctuous, obsequious, servile, submissive, Uriah Heepish;
flattering, insincere;
smooth, smooth-talking, smooth-tongued, honey-tongued, silver-tongued, slick, slippery;
cloying, nauseating, sickening, greasy, oily, saccharine;
wheedling, cajoling
informal smarmy, slimy, creepy, sucky, bootlicking
North American informal brown-nosing
Derivatives
ingratiatingly
- Jane, the heroine, devises a theory that is marketed to the viewer as revolutionary, when it is quite a stretch to describe it as more than ingratiatingly goofy.
- Hugh is always ingratiatingly Hugh, but I imagine that Daniel disappears into each role and doesn't give a damn whether you like him or not.
- Who would not prefer a youngster to an adult who smiles ingratiatingly at you and then promptly turns to another customer?