How is the word cloy different from other verbs like it?
Some common synonyms of cloy are glut, gorge, pall, sate, satiate, and surfeit. While all these words mean "to fill to repletion," cloy stresses the disgust or boredom resulting from such surfeiting.
sentimental pictures that cloy after a while
When is glut a more appropriate choice than cloy?
The synonyms glut and cloy are sometimes interchangeable, but glut implies excess in feeding or supplying.
a market glutted with diet books
When could gorge be used to replace cloy?
In some situations, the words gorge and cloy are roughly equivalent. However, gorge suggests glutting to the point of bursting or choking.
gorged themselves with chocolate
When would pall be a good substitute for cloy?
While the synonyms pall and cloy are close in meaning, pall emphasizes the loss of ability to stimulate interest or appetite.
a life of leisure eventually begins to pall
How do satiate and sate relate to one another, in the sense of cloy?
Both 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
When is it sensible to use surfeit instead of cloy?
The meanings of surfeit and cloy largely overlap; however, surfeit implies a nauseating repletion.
surfeited themselves with junk food
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cloyBut look out for An Irish Goodbye, the only English-language nominee, which is just cloying enough to win.—Vulture, 10 Mar. 2023 The acidity is well balanced with the sweetness so as not to be cloying at all.—Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 3 Mar. 2023 Lengua gyutan, or beef tongue, soaked in a creamy mushroom gravy, seemed destined to cloy but turned out to be smooth, balanced, and savory.—Jiayang Fan, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2022 But before such moments can cloy, Arbery usefully complicates his case.—New York Times, 22 June 2022 See All Example Sentences for cloy
Sherpa fleece, shearling wool, Mackinaw Wool and Filson’s Tin Cloth—a cotton duck canvas that’s saturated with wax under high pressure and heat—are featured alongside Wrangler’s classic cotton slub denim in indigo and black.
—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
1 Oct. 2025
Then, sprinkle ½ cup of high-nitrogen fertilizer, like blood meal or soybean meal, across the top of each bale and water the bales deeply until they’re saturated and water runs through the base.
—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 Oct. 2025
The study aims to explore the relationship between menopause and exercise, with the goal of understanding what type(s) and duration of exercise may alleviate the common symptoms of menopause.
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Alexa Mikhail,
Flow Space,
6 Oct. 2025
Moore adds that these small cleaning tasks might even alleviate the snowball of multiple tasks with a more significant chunk of time.
That being said, it's been encouraging to see Coen lighten the load for Lawrence in other ways.
—
Derrik Klassen,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
The softer energy of Venus entering Libra on October 13 and the New Moon in Libra on October 21 lands in your sector of creativity, dating, and joy, encouraging you to lighten the load and lead with play.
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