Meaning & use
engender
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To cause a feeling, attitude or situation to come into being.
Grammar: Takes an object, usually an abstract noun: engender trust.
Patterns
- engender something in someone
- engender something
Honest feedback can engender trust between colleagues.
The new rule engendered resentment among the staff.
Good teachers engender a love of reading in their pupils.
verbtransitiveliteraryold-fashioned
To bring a living creature into existence by reproducing.
Grammar: Takes an object; now old-fashioned or literary.
Patterns
- engender offspring
The king hoped to engender an heir.
Old texts say that the god engendered a race of heroes.
He engendered three children, the story says.
Word forms
| third person singular | engenders |
|---|---|
| past tense | engendered |
| past participle | engendered |
| -ing form | engendering |
Common combinations
- engender trust
- Clear communication helps engender trust.
- engender confidence
- The coach's calm manner engendered confidence in the team.
- engender controversy
- The proposal engendered controversy at the meeting.
- engender hostility
- Unfair treatment can engender hostility.
- engender a sense of belonging
- The club engenders a sense of belonging among newcomers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cause
- Cause is the plain everyday word, while engender sounds formal and suits feelings or conditions that develop gradually.
- foster
- Foster suggests encouraging something to grow, whereas engender stresses that it is produced in the first place.
- provoke
- Provoke implies a sudden or strong reaction, often negative, while engender can be calm and gradual.
- breed
- Breed is more informal and usually applies to negative things such as breed contempt.
Opposites
Word family
- gender noun
- shares the old root meaning kind or type
- generate verb
- to produce or create something
- generation noun
- the act of producing, or a group of people born around the same time
- progenitor noun
- an ancestor or originator
Commonly confused: engender or endanger?
engender vs endanger
Endanger means to put at risk, while engender means to cause something to exist.
Practice
The mayor's open approach helped ____ trust among residents.
Choose one answer.
Engender means to cause a feeling to develop, which suits trust. Endanger and endure look similar but would make the sentence mean something else.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “engender”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.