saturate
/ˈsætʃ.ə.reɪt/ IELTSAcademic
verb
To make something completely full, soaked, or covered with a liquid or substance. It can also mean to fill a market, area, or system so much that it cannot take more.
- The towel was saturated with water.
- The market is saturated with similar products.
- His speech saturated the room with anger.
Adinary Nuance
Saturate is stronger than fill or wet. It means something is full to the limit, often completely soaked or overloaded. In business or academic writing, it also means a market has too many similar products. Use soak for liquids, and saturate when you want the idea of total fullness.
In other languages
- Vietnamese
- bão hòa
- Spanish
- saturar
- Chinese
- 饱和
- Japanese
- 飽和させる
- Korean
- 포화시키다
Etymology
From Latin satūrātus, past participle of satūrāre, meaning 'to fill fully' or 'satisfy'. The word entered English in the late Middle English period.
Common phrases
saturate with watermarket saturationsaturate the marketsaturated demand
Synonyms
Related words
Frequently asked questions
- Is saturate formal or informal?
- It is fairly formal, and common in academic, business, and scientific writing.
- What is the difference between saturate and soak?
- Soak often describes something wet. Saturate means completely soaked or filled to the limit.
- Can I say a market is saturated?
- Yes. It means there are too many similar products or services already.
- Is saturate used in everyday speech?
- Yes, but it sounds more formal than words like fill or soak.