surfeit

1 of 2

noun

sur·​feit ˈsər-fət 

1

: an overabundant supply : excess

2

: an intemperate or immoderate indulgence in something (such as food or drink)

3

: disgust caused by excess

surfeit

2 of 2

verb

surfeited; surfeiting; surfeits

transitive verb

: to feed, supply, or give to surfeit

intransitive verb

archaic : to indulge to satiety in a gratification (such as indulgence of the appetite or senses)

surfeiter noun

Did you know?

There is an abundance—you could almost say a surfeit—of English words that come from the Latin verb facere, meaning "to do." The connection to facere is fairly obvious for words spelled with "fic," "fac," or "fec," such as sacrifice, fact, and infect. For words like stupefy (a modification of the Latin word stupefacere) and hacienda (originally, in Old Spanish and Latin, facienda) the facere relation is not so apparent. As for surfeit, a "c" was dropped along the path that led from Latin through Anglo-French, where facere became faire ("to do") and sur- was added to make the verb surfaire, meaning "to overdo." It is the Anglo-French noun surfet ("excess"), however, that Middle English borrowed, eventually settling on the spelling surfeit.

Synonyms

Noun

• surplus
• excess

Verb

• glut
• gorge
• stuff
• sate

Choose the Right Synonym for surfeit

satiate, sate, surfeit, cloy, pall, glut, gorge mean to fill to repletion.

satiate and sate may sometimes imply only complete satisfaction but more often suggest repletion that has destroyed interest or desire.

years of globe-trotting had satiated their interest in travel

readers were sated with sensationalistic stories

surfeit implies a nauseating repletion.

surfeited themselves with junk food

cloy stresses the disgust or boredom resulting from such surfeiting.

sentimental pictures that cloy after a while

pall emphasizes the loss of ability to stimulate interest or appetite.

a life of leisure eventually begins to pall

glut implies excess in feeding or supplying.

a market glutted with diet books

gorge suggests glutting to the point of bursting or choking.

gorged themselves with chocolate

Examples of surfeit in a Sentence

Noun

ended up with a surfeit of volunteers who simply got in each other's way

Verb

having surfeited ourselves on raw oysters, we had to decline the rest of the restaurant's offerings

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Panthers general manager Bob Clarke, president Bill Torrey and coach Roger Neilson knew there wouldn’t be a surfeit of offensive talent in the expansion draft. —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 19 June 2025

Image Image In cities across the country, more office buildings have been turned into housing, as officials clamor to solve for the mismatch between a surfeit of outdated office buildings and a lack of housing. —Ellen Rosen, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025

Verb

As a theater critic surfeited with plays, radio dramas worked best for me as an unplanned diversion in my car. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2025

But surfeited with at-home entertainment options, former subscribers are preferring the flexibility of single-ticket sales. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English surfet, from Anglo-French, from surfaire to overdo, from sur- + faire to do, from Latin facere — more at do

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

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Kids Definition

surfeit

1 of 2 noun

sur·​feit ˈsər-fət 

1

: a supply that is more than enough : excess

2

: an enjoyment of something (as food or drink) beyond what is good or necessary

3

: disgust caused by excess

surfeit

2 of 2 verb

: to feed, supply, or enjoy to the point of excess