Gratification

//ˌɡɹætɪfɪˈkeɪʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of gratifying or pleasing, either the mind, or the appetite or taste. countable, uncountable

    "gratification of the heart    gratification of the palate"

  2. 2
    the act or an instance of satisfying wordnet
  3. 3
    A gratuity; a reward. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    state of being gratified or satisfied wordnet
  5. 5
    A feeling of pleasure; satisfaction. uncountable

    "I will tell you all my faults frankly beforehand. I am very vain, for I cultivate my vanity on a principle, and cannot understand why we should neglect such a source of gratification."

Synonyms

All synonyms
gladnessamusementanimal pleasurebodily pleasureboodlebribe

Example

More examples

"That job gave him little gratification."

Etymology

From Latin grātificātiō either directly or through Middle French gratification, from Latin grātificō (“to do a favor to, oblige, please, gratify”), from grātus (“kind, pleasing”) + faciō (“to make”).

Related phrases

oral gratificationself-gratification

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.