cloy

UK: /klɔɪ/ US: (kloi)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

cloy  (kloi), v.t. 

1. to weary by an excess of food, sweetness, pleasure, etc.;
   surfeit;
   satiate.

v.i. 

2. to become uninteresting or distasteful through overabundance:
   A diet of cake and candy soon cloys.

• Late Latin inclāvāre to nail in, equivalent. to in- in-² + -clāvāre, verb, verbal derivative of clāvus nail
• Middle French enclo(y)er
• aphetic variant of Middle English acloyen 1350–1400

Synonyms

• 1. glut, sate, bore.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

cloy / klɔɪ/ verb

1. to make weary or cause weariness through an excess of something initially pleasurable or sweet

Etymology: 14th Century (originally: to nail, hence, to obstruct): from earlier acloyen, from Old French encloer, from Medieval Latin inclavāre, from Latin clāvāre to nail, from clāvus a nail