Adjacent Words

Gratify definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GRAT'IFY, v.t. [L. gratificor; gratus, agreeable, and facio, to make.]
1. To please; to give pleasure to; to indulge; as, to gratify the taste, the appetite, the senses, the desires, the mind, etc.
2. To delight; to please; to humor; to soothe; to satisfy; to indulge to satisfaction.
For who would die to gratify a foe?
3. To requite; to recompense.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: make happy or satisfied [syn: satisfy, gratify] [ant: dissatisfy]
2: yield (to); give satisfaction to [syn: gratify, pander, indulge]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-fied; -fying) Etymology: Middle French gratifier, from Latin gratificari to show kindness to, from gratus + -ificari, passive of -ificare -ify Date: 1539 1. archaic remunerate, reward 2. to be a source of or give pleasure or satisfaction to <it gratified him to have his wife wear jewels — Willa Cather> 3. to give in to ; indulge, satisfy <gratify a whim>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (-fies, -fied) 1 a please, delight. b please by compliance; assent to the wish of. 2 indulge in or yield to (a feeling or desire). Derivatives: gratification n. gratifier n. gratifying adj. gratifyingly adv. Etymology: F gratifier or L gratificari do a favour to, make a present of, f. gratus pleasing

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gratify Grat"i*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gratified; p. pr. & vb. n. Gratifying.] [F. gratifier, L. gratificari; gratus pleasing + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy.] 1. To please; to give pleasure to; to satisfy; to soothe; to indulge; as, to gratify the taste, the appetite, the senses, the desires, the mind, etc. For who would die to gratify a foe? --Dryden. 2. To requite; to recompense. [Obs.] It remains . . . To gratify his noble service. --Shak. Syn: To indulge; humor please; delight; requite; recompense. Usage: To Gratify, Indulge, Humor. Gratify, is the generic term, and has reference simply to the pleasure communicated. To indulge a person implies that we concede something to his wishes or his weaknesses which he could not claim, and which had better, perhaps, be spared. To humor is to adapt ourselves to the varying moods, and, perhaps, caprices, of others. We gratify a child by showing him the sights of a large city; we indulge him in some extra expense on such an occasion; we humor him when he is tired and exacting.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gratifies, gratifying, gratified) 1. If you are gratified by something, it gives you pleasure or satisfaction. (FORMAL) Mr. Dambar was gratified by his response. VERB: be V-ed, also V n • gratified He was gratified to hear that his idea had been confirmed... They were gratified that America kept its promise. ADJ: oft ADJ to-inf, ADJ that • gratifying We took a chance and we've won. It's very gratifying. ADJ • gratification He is waiting for them to recognise him and eventually they do, much to his gratification. 2. If you gratify your own or another person's desire, you do what is necessary to please yourself or them. (FORMAL) We gratified our friend's curiosity... = satisfy VERB: V n • gratification ...sexual gratification.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Please, delight, give pleasure to, make glad. 2. Indulge, satisfy, humor, fulfil.

Moby Thesaurus

achieve inner harmony, allay, appease, assuage, baby, board, bread, cater to, cheer, coddle, compensate, content, cosset, delectate, delight, dine, do proud, elate, favor, feast, feed, flush, fodder, forage, give way to, gladden, grass, graze, happify, humor, indulge, make proud, meat, mess, mollycoddle, oblige, pamper, pasture, please, pleasure, provision, put at ease, quench, recompense, regale, requite, reward, sate, satiate, satisfy, set at ease, slake, spoil, sustain, wine and dine, yield to