Dictionary

satisfice en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈsætɪsfaɪs/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

1560, Northern alteration of satisfy, probably influenced in form by Latin satisfacere.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, transitive) To satisfy.

Forms

satisfice en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈsætɪsfaɪs/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Blend of satisfy + suffice, coined by American political scientist and psychologist Herbert A. Simon in 1956.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) Of human behavior: to make a choice that suffices to fulfill the minimum requirements to achieve an objective, without special regard for utility maximization or optimization of one's preferences.
   • [T]here are two contrasting types of decision-making mentalities, maximizing and satisficing. If you're choosing a marriage partner, you probably want to maximize. You want to find the very best person you are totally in love with. […] But politics is not like that. Politics is a prosaic activity most of the time. You probably want to satisfice, pick the person who's good enough, who seems reasonably responsible. 2015 December 4, David Brooks, “No, Donald Trump won't win [print version: International New York Times, 5–6 December 2015, page 9]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Dec 2015:
   • Evidently, organisms adapt well enough to ‘satisfice’; they do not, in general, ‘optimize’. 1956, H[erbert] A. Simon, “Rational Choice and the Structure of the Environment”, in Psychological Review, volume 63, number 2, page 129:

Forms

Deriveds

satisficer