Definition

1. Verb:
   • To cause disgust or annoyance through excessive sweetness, richness, or pleasure that was initially enjoyable.
   • To supply or feed to the point of excess, leading to a feeling of being overly full or satiated.

Usage

• Transitive verb: Typically used with a direct object (something that causes the cloying sensation).
  • The excessive sweetness of the dessert began to cloy my palate.
  • Constant flattery can quickly cloy a person.
• Intransitive verb: Can be used to describe the state of becoming cloyed.
  • After the third piece of cake, the taste started to cloy.

Examples

• The filmmaker's sentimental style, charming at first, eventually cloyed the audience.
• She worried that the lavish praise would cloy and seem insincere.
• The perfume was so strong and sweet it cloyed the air in the small room.

Advanced Usage

• Cloying (Adjective): Describing something that is excessively sweet, sentimental, or ingratiating to the point of being unpleasant.
  • The cloying sentimentality of the movie made it difficult to watch.
  • He spoke in a cloying tone of voice.

Variants and Related Words

• Cloyingly (Adverb): In a cloying manner.
  • The dessert was cloyingly sweet.
• Satiate (Verb): To satisfy fully or to excess. While similar, 'satiate' is more neutral, whereas 'cloy' implies a negative, unpleasant excess.
• Surfeit (Noun/Verb): An excessive amount; to supply or feed to excess. This is a key concept in the definition of 'cloy'.

Synonyms

• Pall: To become dull or tiresome.
• Sicken: To cause to feel disgust or nausea (stronger than cloy).
• Glut: To feed or supply to excess.
• Jade: To make dull or weary through excess.

Antonyms

• Whet: To sharpen or stimulate (e.g., an appetite).
• Tantalize: To tease or torment with the sight or promise of something unobtainable, thus stimulating desire.

Notes

• Connotation: 'Cloy' carries a distinctly negative connotation. It describes the tipping point where something pleasing becomes unpleasant due to overabundance.
• Common Contexts: Often used in relation to taste (food, drink), smells, emotions (sentimentality), and behavior (excessive flattery or affection).

Verb

1. cause surfeit through excess though initially pleasing
   • Too much spicy food cloyed his appetite
2. supply or feed to surfeit