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
That seemed like a bit of a coup for Chicago (especially given the surfeit of bad news at the time such as the departure of Caterpillar to Texas and Ken Griffin’s Citadel empire to Miami). The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 15 July 2025 The five-track set contains contributions from behind-the-scenes stateside pop fixtures like Andrew Watt and Justin Tranter, and comes with a surfeit of physical options for purchase — including four vinyl variants and nine CD variants. Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 2 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
  • He is credited with the key leadership role in creating Palm Springs’ Measure J, a 1% sales tax increase that helped to fund a $200 million downtown revitalization program and providing a surplus of $12 million per year to rebuild the city’s infrastructure.
    Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The bigger risk is OPEC+ deciding to reinstate supply cuts, given concerns about a surplus.
    Ruxandra Iordache, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Thanks to builder strategies, shifting home designs and a new construction glut the trend has flipped.
    Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
  • And while May is also a busy month for ESPN and TNT, which in late spring are glutted with live NBA and NHL playoff games, cable as a whole accounted for less than a quarter (24.1%) of all consumption last month.
    Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 20 June 2025
Noun
  • High rollers are trading the once-glamorous epicenters of excess for local sports bars, crowd-roaring stadiums, grocery lines and even their couches at home—everywhere can be a roulette table when the casino is in your pocket.
    Katherine Fung, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025
  • For most healthy adults, exceeding protein needs does not usually cause major issues, but long-term excess may carry risks.
    Karen Berger, Verywell Health, 26 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • People are talking about the storm while the gulls gorge on bread and peck at chicken bones.
    Deborah Levy, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Scheming girlfriends, questionable business partners, a fleet of lawyers and consultants gorging themselves on fees and a whole lot of other jockeying around Sumner Redstone’s fortune and his business empire.
    Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 10 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Other popular choices are the ravioli stuffed with lobster and served with tarragon pesto sauce and bisque foam; the seafood and basil risotto, and the puff pastry millefeuille filled with eggplant cream and coming with tomato panzanella salad and Espelette pepper.
    Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The video shows a couch completely destroyed, with stuffing pulled out and the frame exposed down to the springs.
    Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Surfeit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surfeit. Accessed 6 Sep. 2025.

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