saturate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
saturates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
saturated,
past participle, past
-
saturating
present participle
-
to cause (a substance) to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance, through solution, chemical combination, or the like.
-
to charge to the utmost, as with magnetism.
-
to soak, impregnate, or imbue thoroughly or completely.
to saturate a sponge with water; a town saturated with charm.
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to destroy (a target) completely with bombs and missiles.
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to send so many planes over (a target area) that the defensive electronic tracking equipment becomes ineffective.
-
to furnish (a market) with goods to its full purchasing capacity.
verb (used without object)
-
saturates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
saturated,
past participle, past
-
saturating
present participle
adjective
noun
verb
-
to fill, soak, or imbue totally
-
to make (a chemical compound, vapour, solution, magnetic material, etc) saturated or (of a compound, vapour, etc) to become saturated
-
(tr) military to bomb or shell heavily
adjective
Synonym Usage
See wet.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
saturatesimple
-
saturatessimple
-
have saturatedperfect
-
has saturatedperfect
-
am saturatingprogressive
-
are saturatingprogressive
-
is saturatingprogressive
-
have been saturatingperfect progressive
-
has been saturatingperfect progressive
Past
-
saturatedsimple
-
had saturatedperfect
-
was saturatingprogressive
-
were saturatingprogressive
-
had been saturatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of saturate
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin saturātus (past participle of saturāre “to fill”), equivalent to satur- “full, well-fed” ( see sad) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
The verb saturate means to cause something to be fully soaked to the point where it can't take on anything else. A heavy rainstorm can saturate the ground, leaving puddles on the lawn because no more water can be absorbed. The word saturate comes from the Latin word saturatus, meaning "to fill full, sate, drench." Saturate is often used to describe the aftermath of a big rainstorm, but other things can be saturated as well. If you're a workaholic, you might saturate all your free time with work, leaving no time to spend with your family. In chemistry, saturate describes causing one substance, like a solution, to take on the greatest amount of another substance.
Vocabulary lists containing saturate
Tangerine
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100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
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The Martian
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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.
See Examples For:
Revenue grew at greater than 24% a year from 2002 to 2022 when the company began to saturate the market for its customer relationship management software.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
The toxic content, AI-generated rumor cycles and coordinated inauthentic activity that already saturate the information environment are now sufficient, on their own, to move prediction-market prices in profitable directions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
An estimated 5 million undocumented Mexicans currently live in the United States and the prospect of a mass return could quickly saturate and overwhelm border cities like Juarez and Tijuana.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
But small-time producers already situated within a country’s borders can saturate the market.
From Salon ● Nov. 14, 2024
That’s a useful lesson for Coca-Cola or Nike, who have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on marketing and can afford to saturate all forms of media with their message.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
And as the market for these types of businesses saturates, creator-founders can no longer guarantee their brands will succeed off the back of their celebrity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Once triggered, the system saturates the house and property with water and firefighting foam, “creating an environment that is too wet to burn,” according to the company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
Within the first three episodes starring Gatwa, Davies makes room for two broad song and dance numbers, introduces a supervillain played by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” royalty Jinkx Monsoon, and saturates sets with color.
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
Silence saturates the emerald green slopes and basalt cliffs.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
“A one in a billion—no trillion—anomaly, born from the oddness that saturates your county.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
"This observation also holds true online and on the street, which are saturated with demands to consume," group president Marie-Amandine Stévenin added.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
As a result, dietary recommendations in Canada and many other countries have typically encouraged people to choose fat-free or low-fat dairy products as a way to reduce saturated fat intake.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
For decades, Kennedy says, the government has lied to Americans about saturated fat.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Tallow consists of a much higher amount of saturated fat compared to our own sebum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The so-called “GPs” grew up in this community, their worlds saturated by experiments and observation and learning.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Fumes have travelled into the neighbouring Namur province, where authorities had to ask residents to stop saturating emergency phone lines with reports of the smell.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Sabroso maximizes the visual pop and sharp humor that defines every scene, saturating frames in “see me” colors popping citrusy in one moment and fiery in the next, lifting the cast’s audacious, extreme performances.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025
Through a series of voice notes and calls, Perkins took BBC News through the storm as it barrelled through her community, bringing howling winds and saturating the area with rain.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024
That precipitation pushed runoff from the Appalachian Mountains, saturating the soil and knocking over trees.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2024
They smashed directly on target, saturating the entire length of the ram.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
