sate

1
as in to gorge
to fill with food to capacity I sated myself with an array of decadent offerings from the dessert table

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
as in to satisfy
to put a complete end to (a physical need or desire) a huge meal that should have sated everyone's hunger

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word sate different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of sate are cloy, glut, gorge, pall, satiate, and surfeit. While all these words 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

When could cloy be used to replace sate?

While in some cases nearly identical to sate, cloy stresses the disgust or boredom resulting from such surfeiting.

sentimental pictures that cloy after a while

When can glut be used instead of sate?

The words glut and sate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, glut implies excess in feeding or supplying.

a market glutted with diet books

When would gorge be a good substitute for sate?

While the synonyms gorge and sate are close in meaning, gorge suggests glutting to the point of bursting or choking.

gorged themselves with chocolate

When is it sensible to use pall instead of sate?

Although the words pall and sate have much in common, pall emphasizes the loss of ability to stimulate interest or appetite.

a life of leisure eventually begins to pall

Where would surfeit be a reasonable alternative to sate?

The words surfeit and sate can be used in similar contexts, but surfeit implies a nauseating repletion.

surfeited themselves with junk food

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of sate To culminate the trip, guests can join another one-day Porsche Ice Driving course before their departure, should their inner petrolhead not yet be sated. Duncan Madden, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025 The fast food chain briefly brought them back in 2018, but wasn’t enough to sate the demands of the Cini Mini fandom. Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 26 Aug. 2025 For now, the Netflix movie and the eventual stage play will have to sate his fans. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Aug. 2025 Jack in the Box restaurants are also open later than many fast-food competitors to sate those after-hours cravings. Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sate
Verb
  • Chief among them is that kids have been gorging on Kit-Kats and Starbursts for decades, on this one day a year.
    Melissa Willets, Parents, 7 Oct. 2025
  • The bears have been trying to fatten up by gorging on salmon — including at times by only eating the skin, brains and eggs to focus on the most calories — before hibernating for the winter.
    Phil Helsel, NBC news, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • While protein bars may never be as delicious as candy bars, these picks will satisfy your hunger and your taste buds.
    Alaina Chou, Bon Appetit Magazine, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Everything from the glossy caramel drizzle to the satisfying crunch is a little messy, but totally charming, just like you.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The 6-4, 330-pound Pennel, who has been part of two Chiefs Super Bowl-championship teams, is considered a run-stuffing lineman.
    Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Made in minutes in the skillet with only precooked cornmeal, water and salt, the corn cake’s fate is to be sliced partway, then stuffed with whatever appeals.
    The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Finding picture books is easy; the market is glutted with them.
    The Atlantic, The Atlantic, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Yet the train of military vehicles that appeared was remarkably tame, a cavalcade of superannuated weapons platforms serving as a reminder of the degree to which the military-industrial complex, glutted with money and pampered by Congress, has run out of new ideas.
    Seth Harp, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 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 the younger people making theater now are drawn to it now because they’ve been surfeited with digital culture.
    Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2023
Verb
  • Turn on music or a podcast and fill a few spare minutes wiping down surfaces, dusting, or putting things away.
    Kelsey Mulvey, Southern Living, 31 Oct. 2025
  • In a recent episode of Apple TV's The Reluctant Traveler, the Prince of Wales opened up to host Eugene Levy about the late Duke of Edinburgh’s famously sharp (and occasionally unintentional) sense of humor, recalling how much laughter filled their family gatherings.
    Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on sate

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!