ingrained 1 of 2

adjective

ˈin-ˌgrānd How to pronounce ingrained (audio)
variants also engrained
Definition of ingrainednext
as in inherent
being a part of the innermost nature of a person or thing her deeply ingrained distrust of all authority

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

ingrained

2 of 2

verb

variants also engrained
past tense of ingrain
1
as in suffused
to cause (as a person) to become filled or saturated with a certain quality or principle the journalism professor has long ingrained his students with a deep respect for their chosen profession

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in etched
to produce a vivid impression of the third-world privation he had witnessed forever ingrained itself upon the young doctor's memory

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3
as in rooted
to set solidly in or as if in surrounding matter tried to ingrain traditional values in their children

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ingrained
Adjective
Ji-Na is open and confident while Fatima remains closed off, her shame about her sexuality deeply culturally ingrained. — Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026 The spirit of Mongolia is deeply ingrained in nearly every part of the hotel at large, too. — Mae Hamilton, Travel + Leisure, 10 June 2026
Verb
Beyond being beautiful objects, Indigenous beadwork is ingrained with meaning. — Kelly Ryan Kegans, Midwest Living, 8 Aug. 2026 This’ll be a great way to expose the hypocrisy or idiocy of the progressive movement ingrained in the league. — Jon Root Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for ingrained
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ingrained
  1. inherent
  2. suffused
  3. etched
  4. rooted
  5. intrinsic
  6. inculcated
  7. engraved
  8. embedded
Adjective
  • The strategy seeks to slow China's technological advancement through attrition rather than a complete ban, acknowledging the inherent challenge of policing cross-border digital services.
    — John Werner, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Although none of these trails are terribly technical, there’s still an inherent risk that comes with hiking.
    — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of inherent
Verb
  • After setting her wildly popular debut The Tiger's Wife in a Balkans suffused with myth and magic, the author turned in subsequent books to the Old West and a city redolent of New York.
    — Colin Dwyer, NPR, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The threat is still there, suffused into the air like a memory, but for a time the choice between love and survival no longer feels mutually exclusive to Nino and Yasmina.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 22 July 2026
Definition of suffused
Verb
  • Gorman’s name is etched with the ’06 Carolina champs, but not the 2026 group, as owner Tom Dundon chose to include family members and left some staffers unengraved.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026
  • The sculpture depicts a female figure, her cloak billowing out in the shape of a seed around her and etched with more than 300 global symbols of peace, holding olive branches and surrounded by six children, each representing a continent.
    — Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of etched
Verb
  • After three or four weeks, a gentle tug on the stem should meet resistance, indicating that the cutting has rooted.
    — Alexandra Jones, The Spruce, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The Quilceda Creek vineyards are also non-grafted and own-rooted, which Golitzin believes enables each clone to express its character more directly.
    — Mike DeSimone, Robb Report, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of rooted
Adjective
  • The Financial Times has argued that the astronomical prices of top modernist paintings are less about intrinsic artistic value than wealth, scarcity, and the concentration of buying power among billionaires.
    — George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Repurchases can create significant value when a company's shares trade below management's estimate of intrinsic value, because each remaining shareholder owns a larger percentage of the company afterward.
    — Robert Daugherty, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of intrinsic
Verb
  • We were inculcated with the importance of charity, love toward all, good works and humility, and urged to carry those virtues into adulthood.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026
  • We were constantly informed that our purpose was to become genteel and inculcated in Christian virtue.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
Definition of inculcated
Verb
  • Vuitton’s Pharrell Williams, meanwhile, sent out models sporting dangling silver bands daintily engraved with the brand’s LV monogram.
    — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 21 Aug. 2026
  • After the hearing, Khalil and his lawyers posed for photos in front of the National Constitution Center, where all forty-five words of the First Amendment were engraved on a fifty-ton slab of marble, then walked to a ramen bar for lunch.
    — Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of engraved
Verb
  • This marks a larger shift in how healthcare is administered globally, with many aging societies transitioning from hospital-centric care to more personalized and accessible options which are embedded in neighborhoods and communities.
    — Angelica Ang, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Scott Quigley, then embedded with the Middlesex DA’s office, crashed his cruiser into a wheelchair van in December 2023, injuring a man inside who died at the hospital a month later.
    — Boston Herald editorial staff, Boston Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of embedded

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Cite this Entry

“Ingrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ingrained. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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