Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Keep "cloy" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "cloy" intact in the sentence you are editing.
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
After choosing a replacement for "cloy", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "cloy" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
3 total sentences available.
"Not so; though glory wait not on the act; / though poor the praise, and barren be the gain, / vengeance on feeble woman to exact, / yet praised hereafter shall his name remain, / who purges earth of such a monstrous stain. / Sweet is the passion of vindictive joy, / sweet is the punishment, where just the pain, / sweet the fierce ardour of revenge to cloy, / and slake with Dardan blood the funeral flames of Troy."
Source: tatoeba (6854953)
Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
Source: wiktionary
The third Iraq veteran -- 23-year-old Cloy Richards of Salem, Missouri, who was wounded in combat -- will avoid losing his disability benefits after agreeing not to wear his uniform at future protests, the Marine Corps said.
Source: wiktionary
Closest matches include pall, allay, cram, engorge, fill.
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.