Word.ws English Dictionary

satisfice

/ˈsætɪsfaɪs/

satisfice verb: to satisfy.

satisfice: a notebook with a pen on top of it
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Verb (1)

satisfice (third-person singular simple present satisfices, present participle satisficing, simple past and past participle satisficed)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To satisfy.

Verb (2)

satisfice (third-person singular simple present satisfices, present participle satisficing, simple past and past participle satisficed)

  1. (intransitive) 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.
    • Evidently, organisms adapt well enough to ‘satisfice’; they do not, in general, ‘optimize’.1956, H[erbert] A. Simon, “Rational Choice and the Structure of the Environment”, in Psychological Review, volume 63, number 2, page 129
    • [T]here are two contrasting types of decision-making mentalities, maximizing and satisficing. If you're choosing a marriage partner, you probably want to maximize. You want to find the very best person you are totally in love with. […] But politics is not like that. Politics is a prosaic activity...2015 December 4, David Brooks, “No, Donald Trump won't win [print version: International New York Times, 5–6 December 2015, page 9]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Dec 2015

Forms of satisfice

third-person singular presentsatisfices
present participlesatisficing
past participlesatisficed
pastsatisficed

Origin of satisfice

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

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

Words formed from satisfice

Questions about satisfice

What does satisfice mean?
Satisfice means to satisfy.
What part of speech is satisfice?
Satisfice is a verb.
How do you pronounce satisfice?
Satisfice is pronounced /ˈsætɪsfaɪs/.
What is the past tense of satisfice?
The past tense of satisfice is satisficed.

Words near satisfice in the dictionary

  1. satisfactual
  2. satisfactually
  3. satisfiabilities
  4. satisfiability
  5. satisfiable
  6. satisfice
  7. satisficed
  8. satisficer
  9. satisficers
  10. satisfices
  11. satisficing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: satisfice (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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