ingrained

Definitions

in- (into) + grain + -ed = worked into the very grain. The original picture is dye sunk deep into cloth fibers so it never washes out. That permanence became the figurative meaning: habits and beliefs embedded too deep to remove.

Why It Means This

Ingrained literally meant dyed 'in the grain' — color driven so deep into the fibers of cloth that it would never wash out. English carried that image over to the mind: an attitude that is ingrained sits as deep as a permanent dye, beyond easy removal. It almost always describes stubborn or negative things — prejudice, fear, bad habits.

Common Collocations

• 1.deeply ingrained根深蒂固
• 2.ingrained habit积习难改的习惯
• 3.ingrained belief根深蒂固的信念
• 4.ingrained prejudice根深蒂固的偏见

Example Sentences

• 1.

  His distrust of strangers was deeply ingrained from childhood.

• 2.

  Such ingrained habits are extremely hard to break.

• 3.

  The cloth had ingrained dirt that no washing could remove.

Easily Confused

ingrained vs inherent — ingrained means fixed deep through long habit or experience (an ingrained fear of failure); it was put there over time. inherent means belonging to something by its very nature from the start (an inherent flaw in the design). Built up over time → ingrained; there from the beginning → inherent.