satisfice

[ sat-is-fahys ]

/ ˈsæt ɪsˌfaɪs /

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verb (used without object) sat·is·ficed, sat·is·fic·ing.

to choose or adopt the first satisfactory option that one comes across: the tendency of decision-makers to satisfice rather than look for the optimal solution.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of satisfice

First recorded in 1955–60 (1560–70 in the obsolete sense “satisfy”); satis(fy) + (suf)fice or (sacri)fice

Words nearby satisfice

satirical, satirist, satirize, satisfaction, satisfactory, satisfice, satisficing behaviour, satisfied, satisfy, sat nav, Sato

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use satisfice in a sentence

Except thow wilt saye that to satisfice is nothing els / but when one doth make himself approued vnto an other man.
A Treatise of the Cohabitation Of the Faithful with the Unfaithful|Peter Martyr

British Dictionary definitions for satisfice

satisfice

/ (ˈsætɪsˌfaɪs) /

verb

(intr) to act in such a way as to satisfy the minimum requirements for achieving a particular result

(tr) obsolete to satisfy

Derived forms of satisfice

satisficer, noun

Word Origin for satisfice

C16: altered from satisfy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012