gratify

Gratify is a transitive verb meaning to give pleasure or satisfaction to someone or to satisfy or indulge a desire or need. It is used for actions that please another person as well as for actions that satisfy one’s own wishes. Common constructions include gratify someone’s curiosity, appetite, or wishes; gratify a demand; or gratify a craving. The verb has the related forms gratified (past tense and past participle), gratifying (present participle), and gratification (the noun).

Etymology traces gratify to Latin gratatus, meaning pleasing, with the sense carried into English via Old French gratifier and related forms. The word, first attested in Middle English, has developed to cover both neutral senses of fulfilling a request or need and the more indulgent sense of giving pleasure.

Usage notes: Gratify often implies fulfilling a desire or request in a way that pleases the other party, or sometimes indulging a preference. It can carry a formal or neutral tone, and is commonly used in contexts like satisfying curiosity or wishes, or pleasing observers or sponsors. In many cases, gratification as a noun emphasizes the experience of pleasure or satisfaction rather than the act of fulfilling a request. The term is somewhat more formal than simply “satisfy,” and may imply a degree of indulgence or appeasement.

Examples: She gratified his curiosity by explaining the process. The audience was gratified by the news. The policy aimed to gratify the concerns of residents by increasing transparency.

Related forms include gratifying (adjective) and gratification (noun).