sate
1 Americanverb
verb
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to satisfy (a desire or appetite) fully
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to supply beyond capacity or desire
verb
Etymology
Origin of sate
First recorded in 1595–1605; variant of obsolete sade “to satiate,” Old English sadian (akin to sad ), perhaps influenced by satiate
Explanation
Sometimes you're so hungry you feel like you could eat a ten-course meal. Other times it takes just a small salad to sate your appetite, or to satisfy your hunger. The verb sate comes from the Old English sadian, “to satiate,” and can be applied to any situation regarding the satisfaction of a need or an appetite. If you have been craving something sweet, your craving might be sated by a bag of jellybeans. However, if it seems like you can never get enough jellybeans, your appetite for sweets might be described as insatiable, a word used to describe a person or entity whose appetites — literally or figuratively — are impossible to satisfy.
Vocabulary lists containing sate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Girl Who Drank the Moon
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Teeming Terms: Synonyms for "Full"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I always order chicken sate and the green papaya salad.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026
The startup says its discoveries can help sate the U.S.’s thirst for power.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026
It seems likely that Sir Keir's rhetoric in PMQs will sate some Labour MPs for now.
From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026
Microsoft is one of the hyperscalers, or developers of massive data centers, that have looking for ways to sate the technology’s appetite for power.
From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025
The day she heard of this determination, my mother walked as if in sleep to the room where Bono and I sate, shining boots.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
