satori
Syllables: sa·to·ri/səˈtɔːɹi/US/səˈtɔɹi/
satori noun: a sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.
Noun (1)
satori (usually uncountable, plural satoris)
- A sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.
- [B]y his ſublime underſtanding and reputed great knovvledge in divine myſteries he obtain'd, and ſtill keeps, the name and repute of a Godo, that is, a perſon bleſs'd vvith a divine and moſt accute underſtanding, vvhom they ſuppoſe to be able to find out by his Satori, or Enthuſiaſtic Speculations...1727, Engelbertus Kæmpfer [i.e., Engelbert Kaempfer], “Of the Temples and Clergy of this City”, in J. G. Scheuchzer [i.e., Johann Caspar Scheuchzer], transl., The History of Japan, […], volume I...
- He [Darma or Bodhidharma] lived only upon vegetables, and thought this to be the higheſt degree of Holineſs, to paſs days and nights in an uninterrupted Satori, that is, a contemplation of the Divine Being.1727, Engelbertus Kæmpfer [i.e., Engelbert Kaempfer], “[The Appendix […].] I. The Natural History of the Japanese Tea; with an Accurate Description of that Plant, Its Culture, Growth, Preparation...
- Enlightenment, epiphany.
- What happened to the Merry Band on its trip during the summer of 1964 ranged from the cosmically sublime to the ridiculous, from peak ecstasy to full-tilt satori. To say that they were merely high would do a disservice to how stoned they really were, […]2004, Martin Torgoff, “Everybody Must Get Stoned”, in Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 115
- A mutant gene of Drosophila, a genus of fruit flies, that causes homosexual behaviour in males (specifically, courtship directed to other males).
- We have isolated a new Drosophila mutant, satori (sat), the males of which do not court or copulate with female flies. […] We have screened about 2000 fly lines with single P-element insertions for altered sexual behavior, yielding a mutant named satori (sat; nirvana in Japanese), the males of...1996 September, Hiroki Ito, Daisuke Yamamoto [et al.], “Sexual Orientation in Drosophila is Altered by the Satori Mutation in the Sex-determination Gene Fruitless that Encodes a Zinc Finger Protein...
- [T]he primary site of action of the fru gene should be in the neural cells. satori,^([sic]) one of the P-insertion alleles of fru which we isolated, carried the lacZ gene of E. coli as a reporter, and β-galactosidase expression was found in a subset of brain cells including those in the antennal...1996 October, Daisuke Yamamoto, Hiroki Ito, Kazuko Fujitani, “Genetic Dissection of Sexual Orientation: Behavioral, Cellular, and Molecular Approaches in Drosophila melanogaster”, in Neuroscience...
- Synonyms:
- sat
Noun (2)
satori (plural satoris)
- A yokai (“supernatural monster”) having the form of a mind-reading monkey-like creature said to dwell in the mountains of the historical Japanese provinces of Hida and Mino (present-day Gifu Prefecture).
- The Satori appears in [Toriyama] Sekien's Konjyaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki as a hairy, ape-like, mountain-dwelling creature that can read people's minds[…].2010, Zilia Papp, “Art History Meets Gegegeno Kitaro”, in Anime and Its Roots in Early Japanese Monster Art, Folkstone, Kent: Global Oriental, →ISBN, page 112
- Satori is a ghost that can read people's thoughts and haunts the mountains. The hairy Satori appears in an Edo-period book titled Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki. According to the book, Satori can read people's minds, but will not harm them. Even if a frightened person plans to kill him or her, Satori...2023, Masami Kinoshita, “Super Scary Yokai”, in The Japanese Yokai Handbook: A Guide to the Spookiest Ghosts, Demons, Monsters and Evil Creatures from Japanese Folklore, Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing...
Noun (3) capitalized: Satori
Satori (uncountable)
- Alternative form of satori.
satori meaning in Marathi, Arabic, Persian and Vietnamese
satori in Marathi
- sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual enlightenment or understanding
- सतोरी satorī
satori in Arabic
- sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual enlightenment or understanding
- ساتوري
satori in Persian
- sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual enlightenment or understanding
- ساتوری
satori in Vietnamese
- sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual enlightenment or understanding
- ngộ
Examples of satori in a sentence
- It was as if [Neal] Cassady […] was in a state of satori, as totally into this very moment, Now, as a being can get.1968, Tom Wolfe, chapter VIII, in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →OCLC, page 102:
- If we choose to embrace Satori, then we are enlightened.1999, Scott Shaw, “Mushin”, in Samurai Zen, Boston, Mass.: Weiser Books, →ISBN, page 142:
- His was the satori of life inclusive of himself and all things.2004, Kōshō Uchiyama, “The World of Intensive Practice”, in Daitsu Tom [Thomas] Wright, Jisho Warner, Shohaku Okumura, transl., Opening the...
- In Drosophila the satori (sat) mutants of males do not court or copulate with females but have sexual interest in males.1998, George P. Rédei, “HOMOSEXUAL”, in Genetics Manual: Current Theory, Concepts, Terms, Singapore; River Edge, N.J.: World Scientific...
Synonyms of satori
Forms of satori
| plural | satoris |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Satori |
Origin of satori
Borrowed from Japanese 悟り (satori, “understanding; (Buddhism) enlightenment, satori”), from 悟る (satoru, “to perceive; to comprehend, understand; to come to enlightenment”), from Middle Chinese 悟 (nguH, “to become aware, apprehend, realize; to awaken”) (modern Mandarin 悟 (wù)), used to translate Pali bodhi (“supreme knowledge”) or its etymon Sanskrit बोधि (bodhi, “perfect knowledge or wisdom by which a person becomes a buddha or jina; enlightened or illuminated intellect of a Buddha or jina”). Etymology 1 sense 3 (“mutant gene of Drosophila that causes homosexual behaviour in males”) was coined by the Japanese scientist Daisuke Yamamoto in a 1991 paper, based on the Japanese term.
Borrowed from Japanese 覚 (satori), from Middle Chinese 覺 (kaewk, “to become aware, awaken to, dawn on”) (modern Mandarin 覺 /觉 (jué); referring to the creature’s mind-reading ability).
Words formed from satori
Words that rhyme with satori
9 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about satori
- What does satori mean?
- Satori means a sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.
- What is satori in Marathi?
- Satori in Marathi is सतोरी (satorī). See Satori meaning in Marathi.
- How do you use satori in a sentence?
- It was as if [Neal] Cassady […] was in a state of satori, as totally into this very moment, Now, as a being can get.
- What part of speech is satori?
- Satori is a noun.
- How do you pronounce satori?
- Satori is pronounced /səˈtɔːɹi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of satori?
- The plural of satori is satoris.
Words near satori in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: satori (page history and authors); Satori (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-satori.wav.
Cite this entry: “satori.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/satori. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.