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satori.

A sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.

6 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/səˈtɔːɹi/Received-Pronunciation/sæ-/Received-Pronunciation/səˈtɔɹi/General-American
  1. A sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.

    uncountable · usually
  2. Enlightenment, epiphany.

    figuratively · uncountable · usually
  3. A mutant gene of Drosophila, a genus of fruit flies, that causes homosexual behaviour in males (specifically, courtship directed to other males).

    countable · usually
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Japanese 悟り (satori, “understanding; (Buddhism) enlightenment, satori”), from 悟る (satoru, “to perceive; to comprehend, understand; to come to enlightenment”), from Middle Chinese 悟 (nguH, “to become aware, apprehend, realize; to awaken”) (modern Mandarin 悟 (wù)), used to translate Pali bodhi (“supreme knowledge”) or its etymon Sanskrit बोधि (bodhi, “perfect knowledge or wisdom by which a person becomes a buddha or jina; enlightened or illuminated intellect of a Buddha or jina”). Etymology 1 sense 3 (“mutant gene of Drosophila that causes homosexual behaviour in males”) was coined by the Japanese scientist Daisuke Yamamoto in a 1991 paper, based on the Japanese term.

noun/səˈtɔːɹi/Received-Pronunciation/sæ-/Received-Pronunciation/səˈtɔɹi/General-American
  1. A yokai (“supernatural monster”) having the form of a mind-reading monkey-like creature said to dwell in the mountains of the historical Japanese provinces of Hida and Mino (present-day Gifu Prefecture).

    Japanese
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Japanese 覚 (satori), from Middle Chinese 覺 (kaewk, “to become aware, awaken to, dawn on”) (modern Mandarin 覺 /觉 (jué); referring to the creature’s mind-reading ability).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.