Satisfying

How to spell satisfying

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce satisfying

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does satisfying mean?

1. adjectiveGiving a sense of fulfilment, contentment, or pleasure because a need or desire has been fully met.

Satisfying in a sentence

• After a long week, finishing the report felt deeply satisfying.

• A hot meal at the end of the hike was incredibly satisfying.

Where does satisfying come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb satisfacere, which combined satis, meaning 'enough', with facere, meaning 'to do or to make'; literally it meant 'to do enough' or 'to make sufficient'. In Roman usage it carried a sense of discharging a debt or meeting an obligation fully, the idea of giving someone enough to settle a claim. English took the verb 'satisfy' through Old French satisfier in the 1400s, and the participle 'satisfying' followed naturally as the form describing something that produces contentment or meets a need fully. The same satis root survives in 'satiate' and 'satire' is a near neighbour by sound but not by origin. A useful spelling note: the middle is built from satis, so it is one 's' there, and the ending switches the 'y' of satisfy to 'i' before adding -ing, giving the smooth -fying.

How the word is built

• satis- (enough)
• -fy (to make, from facere: to do or make)
• -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)