Satisfice

//ˈsætɪsfaɪs// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To satisfy. obsolete, transitive
  2. 2
    Of human behavior: to make a choice that suffices to fulfill the minimum requirements to achieve an objective, without special regard for utility maximization or optimization of one's preferences. intransitive

    "Evidently, organisms adapt well enough to ‘satisfice’; they do not, in general, ‘optimize’."

  3. 3
    decide on and pursue a course of action satisfying the minimum requirements to achieve a goal wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
satisfisesatisfy

Example

More examples

"Evidently, organisms adapt well enough to ‘satisfice’; they do not, in general, ‘optimize’."

Etymology

Etymology 1

1560, Northern alteration of satisfy, probably influenced in form by Latin satisfacere.

Etymology 2

Blend of satisfy + suffice, coined by American political scientist and psychologist Herbert A. Simon in 1956.

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