Satisficed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of making a decision that meets essential criteria without seeking the highest standard
2. To choose an option that adequately satisfies requirements without aiming for the absolute best outcome
3. To accept a solution that is good enough to meet needs without exhaustive analysis or maximum optimization

Etymology: Herbert A. Simon, the American political scientist and psychologist, coined "satisfice" in 1956 as a deliberate blend of "satisfy" and "suffice." He needed a term for a decision strategy that his research on human choice kept revealing: people often pick the first option that is good enough rather than hunting for the optimum, because the search for the best is frequently too costly in time and effort. The "satisfy" half of the blend is the older element. In English, "satisfice" also appeared as a separate, much earlier word in 1560, a Northern alteration of "satisfy" that was probably shaped by the Latin "satisfacere," meaning "to do enough." Simon's coinage is a different word in origin, though it draws on the same idea of sufficiency. The past form "satisficed" is simply the simple past and past participle of "satisfice," so it describes an action that someone took in choosing an option that was good enough.

Synonyms: contented, fulfilled

Antonyms: dissatisfied, discontented