surfeit

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noun sur·feit \ ˈsər-fət \

Definition of surfeit

1 :an overabundant supply :excess

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

3 :disgust caused by excess

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Examples of surfeit in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of surfeit from the Web

Magic is a terrible thing, and the only thing that’s kept it from destroying the world till now has been its scarcity—which troublingly, over the course of the story, has started to become surfeit. * * *

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Bran Stark and the Problem of Omniscience," 29 Aug. 2017
At least Kraft Heinz wasn’t sweating a surfeit of gourmet or organic competition.

— bryan gruley, Bloomberg.com, "Why the Hatchet Men of 3G Spent $10 Million on a Better Oscar Mayer Weiner," 2 Aug. 2017
But the surfeit of venues in L.A. does not meant that the Olympics will arrive without major infrastructure projects.

— adam k. raymond, Daily Intelligencer, "It’s Official: The 2028 Olympics Will Be in Los Angeles," 31 July 2017
These results aren’t surprising, as such, given the surfeit of polling showing how unpopular the Republican bill is.

— philip bump, Washington Post, "By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans prefer Obamacare to Republican replacements," 16 July 2017
These results aren't surprising, as such, given the surfeit of polling showing how unpopular the Republican bill is.

— philip bump, ajc, "By 2 to 1, Americans prefer Obamacare to Republican replacements," 16 July 2017
The president’s extremely loose regard for the truth, even for a politician, has produced a surfeit of fresh grist to verify—or more often, debunk.

— david a. graham, The Atlantic, "Why Fact-Checking Doesn't Faze Trump Fans," 5 July 2017
A surfeit of buttery-tasting croutons provide richness and crunch.

— bethany jean clement, The Seattle Times, "5 life-changing Seattle salads," 29 June 2017
But despite its surfeit of talk on that subject, After Louie seems dramatically undernourished; the director's ambitions are let down by his unrefined storytelling skills.

— david rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, "'After Louie': Film Review | Provincetown 2017," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'surfeit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of surfeit

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

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First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

surfeit Synonyms

Synonyms

bellyful, fat, overabundance, overage, overflow, overkill, overmuch, overplus, oversupply, plethora, plus, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, excess, surplus, surplusage

Antonyms

deficiency, deficit, insufficiency, undersupply

Related Words

abundance, bounty, plentitude, plenty, profusion, sufficiency; overproduction, overstock

Near Antonyms

dearth, lack, scarcity, want

surfeit

verb

Definition of surfeit

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)

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surfeiter

noun

Examples of surfeit in a Sentence

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

First Known Use of surfeit

14th century

surfeit Synonyms

Synonyms

cram, glut, sate, stuff, gorge

Related Words

gobble, gormandize, pig out; gulp, guzzle; cloy, fill; banquet, feast, regale

Near Antonyms

diet, fast

Synonym Discussion of 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.