MEANING
To impress a belief, habit, or principle on someone through repeated instruction or practice.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- inculcate values
- inculcate discipline
- inculcate a belief in someone
On the page
The school inculcated punctuality so thoroughly that lateness felt to her like a moral failure.
His grandmother inculcated a distrust of easy answers without ever calling it skepticism.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- inculcate
- Past tense
- inculcated
- Past participle
- inculcated
- Present participle
- inculcating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- inculcate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are inculcating
- Present perfect
- have/has inculcated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been inculcating
- Past
- inculcated
- Past continuous
- was/were inculcating
- Past perfect
- had inculcated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been inculcating
- Future
- will inculcate
- Future continuous
- will be inculcating
- Future perfect
- will have inculcated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been inculcating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: inculcate; inculcates; inculcated; inculcated; inculcating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: inculcates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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