surfeit

1 of 2

noun

sur·​feit ˈsər-fət How to pronounce surfeit (audio)
1
: an overabundant supply : excess
2
: an intemperate or immoderate indulgence in something (such as food or drink)
3
: disgust caused by excess

surfeit

2 of 2

verb

surfeited; surfeiting; surfeits

transitive verb

: to feed, supply, or give to surfeit

intransitive verb

archaic : to indulge to satiety in a gratification (such as indulgence of the appetite or senses)
surfeiter noun

Did you know?

There is an abundance—you could almost say a surfeit—of English words that derive from the Latin facere, meaning "to do." The connection to facere is fairly obvious for words spelled with "fic," "fac," or "fec," such as sacrifice, benefaction, and infect. For words like stupefy (a modification of Latin stupefacere) and hacienda (originally, in Old Spanish and Latin, facienda) the facere factor is not so apparent. As for surfeit, the "c" was dropped along the path that led from Latin through Anglo-French, where facere became faire and sur- was added to make the verb surfaire, meaning "to overdo." It is the Anglo-French noun surfet ("excess"), however, that Middle English borrowed, eventually settling on the spelling surfeit.

Choose the Right Synonym for surfeit

satiate, sate, surfeit, cloy, pall, glut, gorge 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

surfeit implies a nauseating repletion.

surfeited themselves with junk food

cloy stresses the disgust or boredom resulting from such surfeiting.

sentimental pictures that cloy after a while

pall emphasizes the loss of ability to stimulate interest or appetite.

a life of leisure eventually begins to pall

glut implies excess in feeding or supplying.

a market glutted with diet books

gorge suggests glutting to the point of bursting or choking.

gorged themselves with chocolate

Examples of surfeit in a Sentence

Noun ended up with a surfeit of volunteers who simply got in each other's way Verb having surfeited ourselves on raw oysters, we had to decline the rest of the restaurant's offerings
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Pet owners can have a tougher time finding apartments because of the surfeit of landlords who don’t allow dogs, cats or other animals in their buildings. Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024 Paying for the surfeit of services out there has become almost as expensive as paying for the cable networks that torrenters were trying to get around almost 20 years ago. Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 26 Jan. 2024 There was a surfeit of narrative intrigue to go around. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2023 Dinosaurs have a habit of digging their claws into our imaginations, however, so researchers have kept on, turning up a few clues in the past two decades about the surfeit of superlative sauropods. Riley Black, Popular Science, 9 Nov. 2023 The surfeit of evidence is highly unusual in defamation cases, weakening the network’s defense, legal experts have said. Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2023 Not ecstasy, not satisfaction, not a surfeit of pleasure or accomplishment . . . Kevin Lozano, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2023 The roughly 9,000-square-mile island is known for its beaches and lush mountains, a surfeit of beauty and recreational opportunity. Graham Averill, Outside Online, 18 Apr. 2023 Is there a municipal law against a surfeit of sentimentality? Peter Marks, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
Verb
But surfeited with at-home entertainment options, former subscribers are preferring the flexibility of single-ticket sales. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2023 Theatergoers, surfeited with entertainment options at home, have been less inclined to commit to season subscriptions, placing more pressure on programming to come up with sure-fire hits. Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2023 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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'surfeit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English surfet, from Anglo-French, from surfaire to overdo, from sur- + faire to do, from Latin facere — more at do

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of surfeit was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near surfeit

Cite this Entry

“Surfeit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surfeit. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

surfeit

1 of 2 noun
sur·​feit ˈsər-fət How to pronounce surfeit (audio)
1
: a supply that is more than enough : excess
2
: an enjoyment of something (as food or drink) beyond what is good or necessary
3
: disgust caused by excess

surfeit

2 of 2 verb
: to feed, supply, or enjoy to the point of excess

More from Merriam-Webster on surfeit

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