To endear yourself to someone means to make them like you or feel fondness toward you. When you endear yourself to your new neighbors by helping them carry groceries, you're creating warm feelings and goodwill. A teacher might endear herself to students by remembering their birthdays or sharing funny stories.

The word often appears in the phrase endear yourself to someone. You might endear yourself to your coach through hard work and team spirit, or endear yourself to a new friend by being kind and thoughtful. Sometimes people try too hard to endear themselves to others and come across as insincere, which has the opposite effect.

Something can also be endearing, which means it makes you feel affection. A puppy's clumsy movements are endearing. Your little sister's mispronunciation of big words might be endearing. When we call something endearing, we mean it creates a warm, fond feeling.

The opposite would be alienating yourself from someone, or making them dislike you. You can't force people to like you, but genuine kindness, reliability, and good humor can endear you to others over time.