Gratifying

How to spell gratifying

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce gratifying

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does gratifying mean?

1. adjectiveGiving a pleasant sense of satisfaction or fulfilment.

Gratifying in a sentence

• It was deeply gratifying to see her hard work finally rewarded.

• The team found the project both challenging and gratifying.

Where does gratifying come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin gratus, meaning 'pleasing', 'welcome', or 'thankful', the same root that gives us 'grateful', 'gratitude', and 'gratis'. From gratus the Latins built the verb gratificari, literally 'to do a favour' or 'to make pleasing', joining gratus with facere, meaning 'to make or do'. English took the verb 'gratify' in the sixteenth century by way of French gratifier, with the sense of giving pleasure or satisfying a desire. The present participle 'gratifying' then settled into use as an adjective describing whatever gives that satisfying pleasure. Because the root is grat- and not 'great-', the spelling trap is the unstressed first vowel: it is 'grat', linked to gratitude, never 'great'.

How the word is built

• grat- (from gratus: pleasing, thankful)
• -ify (to make)
• -ing (adjective/participle suffix)