Semantic satiation is a psychological phenomenon where repeating a word or phrase many times causes it to temporarily lose its meaning, making it sound like a meaningless collection of sounds. This occurs because repeated activation of a neural pathway to a word's meaning can cause temporary fatigue or inhibition, leading the brain to re-regulate its focus and temporarily cease to process the word's meaning.
I kept repeating the word 'crowded' over and over for a minute, and by the end, it just sounded like a weird noise—total semantic satiation!
by Emotional Cruiser October 12, 2025
Get the semantic satiationmug. A type of lice that affects your pubic area. They burrow into your urethra and make their way to the testicles (hence the term "semantics", a portmanteau of "semen" and "ticks"). They find their way in by tracking the scent of semen, therefore they exclusively affect biological males with working reproductive organs. They can make their way in other sexual genitals if they detect the scent but the unfamiliar environment that is not condusive to their survival will likely kill them. They can spread through shared seating areas and undergarments.
by BJSD808 March 20, 2022
Get the Semanticsmug. 1. a number that just increases every time someone does something, because doing things properly is hard.
Ive just made a code change. I expect semantic versioning to automatically increment, because bumping a version up (0.0.1 -> 0.0.2) by 1 is hard.
by anonymous April 20, 2023
Get the semanticmug. When words stop meaning what they used to. Over time, phrases get watered down, co-opted, or twisted until they lose their original punch. Think “literally,” “authentic,” or “disruption.”
by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 4, 2025
Get the Semantic Driftmug. For example, if you were to use “death” to describe “dismantling an institution”, and someone takes offence. They were to say, “hey saying death to an institution is just as bad as murdering babies and committing genocide.”You could call that person an Anti-Semantic. Or you could say their views are Anti-Semantic.
by Words are okay June 30, 2025
Get the Anti-Semanticmug. An insult derived from an irrelevant but pithy-sounding technical term. Combining the perjorative and jargon terms feigns a deep, smart reason for refusing to shed ignorance.
James felt fearful and unaccustomed to using his own mind and habitually ceased his thinking at the perimeter of his peer group's established belief system. When someone posted an article with ideas threatening its gossamer bonds, his instinct for conservation drove him to cry, "Empty semantics!"
by facebook_is_the_best November 6, 2017
Get the empty semanticsmug. 1. a number that just increases every time someone does something, because doing things properly is hard.
Ive just made a code change. I expect semantic versioning to automatically increment, because bumping a version up (0.0.1 -> 0.0.2) by 1 is hard.
by anonymous April 20, 2023
Get the semanticmug.