catering (to)

verb

present participle of cater (to)
as in gratifying
to give in to (a desire) the gooey dessert catered to the children's sweet tooth

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for catering (to)
  1. gratifying
  2. pleasing
  3. indulging
  4. satisfying
  5. spoiling
Verb
  • What’s most exciting or gratifying for you about this project, and having these programs include ASL now?
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026
  • For Deion, seeing Shedeur making strides in his second season is gratifying.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 31 July 2026
Definition of gratifying
Verb
  • Wrestlers having legitimate issues backstage has led to multiple feuds that people-pleasing AEW President Tony Khan could not control.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • But gone was the tension of worrying about pleasing a high-strung, perfectionist host.
    — Merrill Markoe, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of pleasing
Verb
  • Whether the race ever happens, the idea is pure Shaq, a celebrity who's renowned for indulging his passions, of which cars are near the top of the list.
    — Terry Baddoo, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Here was a doctor borrowing the language of a fast food brand while encouraging people not to fear indulging.
    — Karin Eldor, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of indulging
Verb
  • But rather than the satisfying sound of arrow meeting deer, Kontras heard a loud, bothersome clank.
    — Jeff Murray, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
  • And there is something satisfying in tracking clues and decoding references.
    — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of satisfying
Verb
  • Without spoiling what happens next, the mutants confront Trask, and Mystique assumes his identity to further their mission.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Decades later, the government was still buying surplus cheese and storing it in vast underground caves in Missouri, Wisconsin, and Kansas, warehouses cool enough to hold the cheese for years without spoiling.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of spoiling
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

catering
catering (to)
caters
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Catering (to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catering%20%28to%29. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of cogent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 28

Why do we say 'break a leg'?
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All