cloy

American  

[kloi] / klɔɪ /

verb (used with object)

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

   Synonyms:

   bore, sate, glut

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verb (used without object)

1. to become uninteresting or distasteful through overabundance.

   A diet of cake and candy soon cloys.

cloy British  

/ klɔɪ /

verb

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

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Other Word Forms

• overcloy verb (used with object)
• uncloyed adjective

Etymology

Origin of cloy

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

Example Sentences

In his pursuit of answers, Roher employs a cloying framework: his loving wife occasionally narrating as if this were a storybook and Roher the protagonist of a scary adventure.

From Los Angeles Times

Watching “Reminders of Him” and shedding a few tears during the inevitable scene where Kenna finally meets her daughter, I was reminded of just how cloying the experience of watching “Hamnet” was.

From Salon

Not cloying, not milky, not trying to be liked by everyone at the bake sale.

From Salon

In its all-too-human view of life, this is, entertainingly, whatever the opposite of a cloying graduation speech is.

From Los Angeles Times

Heartfelt without being cloying, this ad gets all the elements of its message of coming together right in ways that a similar ad from Spectrum couldn’t quite match.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• nauseate