What does "saturate" mean?
Something saturated, especially a saturated fat.
Saturate
/ˈsatjʊɹeɪt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Something saturated, especially a saturated fat.
- Grammar: saturate is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: impregnate, allay, bathe, besprinkle.
- Useful contrasts: dehydrate, deplete, desaturate.
- Usage evidence: Kaleidoscopic prints saturate my blank mind, creating vital memories and burning thoughts.
How to use "saturate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "saturate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "saturate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "saturate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "saturate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "saturate" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "impregnate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "saturate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Something saturated, especially a saturated fat.
"Through formation of a double bond, stearic acid (18:0), a saturate, is converted to acid (18:1), a monounsaturate."
Verb
- 1 To cause to become completely permeated with, or soaked (especially with a liquid). transitive
"Rain saturated their clothes."
- 2 cause (a chemical compound, vapour, solution, magnetic material) to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance wordnet
- 3 To fill thoroughly or to excess. figuratively, transitive
"Modern television is saturated with violence."
- 4 infuse or fill completely wordnet
- 5 To satisfy the affinity of; to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold. transitive
"One can saturate phosphorus with chlorine."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To render pure, or of a colour free from white light. transitive
Adjective
- 1 Saturated, wet, soaked.
"The innocent are gay—the lark is gay, / That dries his feathers, saturate with dew, / Beneath the rosy cloud, while yet the beams / Of dayspring overshoot his humble nest."
- 2 Saturated, wet, soaked.; Dripping with, covered with, exuding (something) [with with]. broadly, poetic
"There she lay, […] Wax-white, seraphic, saturate with the sun O' the morning that now flooded from the front And filled the window with a light like blood."
- 3 Very intense.
"saturate green"
- 4 Satisfied, satiated. obsolete
- 5 Complete, perfect. obsolete
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Saturated. obsolete
Antonyms
Example
"Kaleidoscopic prints saturate my blank mind, creating vital memories and burning thoughts."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "saturate"?
Common synonyms include: impregnate, allay, bathe, besprinkle, bituminize, blankets.
How do you use "saturate" in a sentence?
Kaleidoscopic prints saturate my blank mind, creating vital memories and burning thoughts.
How do you pronounce "saturate"?
Pronounced /ˈsatjʊɹeɪt/.
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in the second part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English, the verb in 1538, the noun in 1921; inherited from Middle English saturat(e) (“satiated, satisfied”), borrowed from Latin saturātus, perfect passive participle of saturō (“to fill, satisfy, quench”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from satur (“full”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).