surfeit 1 of 2

surfeit

2 of 2

verb

as in to glut
to fill with food to capacity having surfeited ourselves on raw oysters, we had to decline the rest of the restaurant's offerings

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of surfeit are cloy, glut, gorge, pall, sate, and satiate. While all these words mean "to fill to repletion," surfeit implies a nauseating repletion.

surfeited themselves with junk food

When could cloy be used to replace surfeit?

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

sentimental pictures that cloy after a while

In what contexts can glut take the place of surfeit?

While the synonyms glut and surfeit are close in meaning, glut implies excess in feeding or supplying.

a market glutted with diet books

Where would gorge be a reasonable alternative to surfeit?

Although the words gorge and surfeit have much in common, gorge suggests glutting to the point of bursting or choking.

gorged themselves with chocolate

When might pall be a better fit than surfeit?

The synonyms pall and surfeit are sometimes interchangeable, but 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 surfeit?

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

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 surfeit
Noun
And with more big news names moving to independent ventures, there’s a surfeit of candidates vying for viewing time. Brian Steinberg, Variety, 4 Aug. 2025 The corpus of superhero fiction has a surfeit of nasties, dozens upon dozens of antagonists for each of the already multitudinous protagonists. Abraham Josephine Riesman, Vulture, 28 July 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 See All Example Sentences for surfeit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surfeit
Noun
  • Despite the early playoff exit, Boston's future looks bright, with the team boasting a surplus of talented young players, including Roman Anthony.
    Shaun McAvoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The school had a surplus of some items — like dozens of conga drums found in an instrument inventory, still wrapped in plastic — and a shortage of others, like student textbooks.
    Vidushi Mishti Sharma, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • 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
  • Thanks to builder strategies, shifting home designs and a new construction glut the trend has flipped.
    Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • During winter months when water demand is low, the city would have to store the excess in either a reservoir or some kind of storage basin.
    David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Millions remain far from liberated from economic pressure, and few of us feel burdened by an excess of free time.
    Arianna Huffington, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
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
  • No one wants to feel stuffed into stiff jeans while 30,000 feet in the air.
    Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 22 Oct. 2025
  • The Colts' defense, under new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, is eighth in points allowed and has been stuffing the run in outstanding fashion.
    Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • But that this fiasco happened at all is a sign of how much Americans’ desire to optimize their rest has grown—along with the market to sate that desire.
    Nancy Walecki, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The historic gems that fill his Paris home are enough; his appetite is sated.
    Jazmine Hughes, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Surfeit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surfeit. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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