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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surfeit was our Word of the Day on 10/16/2012. Hear the podcast!

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

NEW! Time Traveler

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)

—

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.

- 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

SURFEIT Defined for English Language Learners

surfeit

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noun

Definition of surfeit for English Language Learners

: an amount that is too much or more than you need

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surfeit was our Word of the Day on 10/16/2012. Hear the podcast!

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Origin and Etymology of surfeit

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surfeit

Definition of surfeit

surfeiter

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First Known Use of surfeit

surfeit Synonyms

Synonyms

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SURFEIT Defined for English Language Learners

surfeit

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