cloy

[ kloi ]

verb (used with object)

1. to weary by an excess of food, sweetness, pleasure, etc.; surfeit; satiate.

   Synonyms: bore, sate, glut

verb (used without object)

1. to become uninteresting or distasteful through overabundance:

   A diet of cake and candy soon cloys.

cloy

/ klɔɪ /

verb

1. to make weary or cause weariness through an excess of something initially pleasurable or sweet

Other Words From

• over·cloy verb (used with object)
• un·cloyed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloy¹

1350–1400; aphetic variant of Middle English acloyen < Middle French enclo ( y ) er < Late Latin inclāvāre to nail in, equivalent to in- in- ² + -clāvāre, verbal derivative of clāvus nail

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloy¹

C14 (originally: to nail, hence, to obstruct): from earlier acloyen, from Old French encloer , from Medieval Latin inclavāre, from Latin clāvāre to nail, from clāvus a nail

Example Sentences

I added horseradish and hot sauce for a kick, and just enough ketchup to tint the sauce pale pink without letting it cloy.

From Seattle Times

But before such moments can cloy, Arbery usefully complicates his case.

From New York Times

Even if you don’t know “Sweat,” though, “Clyde’s” may slightly cloy.

From New York Times

There is no trace of sugar, no cloy from traditional American-style pickle relish you usually get at the summer seafood shack.

From New York Times

For “West Side Story” he wrote “poetic” lyrics that Bernstein loved but that embarrassed their author — yet also produced, as the collaboration matured, lacerating lines that never cloy.

From New York Times

Related Words

• nauseate