Fancy-sounding term of the day: Semantic satiation

Fancy-sounding term of the day: Semantic satiation

Ever have those days where you write or speak a word and the longer you stare at it or repeat it the less real it feels? There happens to be a term for that feeling - Semantic satiation.

Definition: [ source ]

Semantic satiationsemantic saturationverbal satiation
The concept of semantic satiation was described by E. Severance and M.F. Washburn in The American Journal of Psychology in 1907. The term was introduced by psychologists Leon James and Wallace E.


Repeat any word over and over and you'll experience this.