Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
sober
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
English
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius, from se- (“without”) + ebrius (“intoxicated”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁egʷʰ- (“drink”). In the sense "not drunk," displaced native undrunken, from Old English undruncen.
Pronunciation
Adjective
sober (comparative soberer, superlative soberest)
- Not drunk; not intoxicated.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sober
- Antonyms: drunk; see also Thesaurus:drunk
- Not under the influence of any recreational drug.
- 2014 October 27, Taylor Swift, Imogen Heap, “Clean (Taylor's Version)”, in 1989 (Taylor's Version), performed by Taylor Swift, published 27 October 2023:
- Ten months sober, I must admit
Just because you're clean, don't mean you don't miss it
- Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.
- Synonyms: abstemious, temperate; see also Thesaurus:abstemious
- 1890, John Charles Cox, “The Sober Life”, in The Godly, Righteous, And Sober Life, page 35:
- Amid all the confusion and disorder that sin has introduced into the world, the Christian in union with God has a grace or Divine help that enables him to live the sober, self-restrained life.
- 2020 December 29, Hilary Sheinbaum, “Finding Love Without Alcohol”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- After eliminating alcohol from their lives, some sober individuals exclusively date nondrinkers.
- (Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- Rose told me that she's sober.
- (figurative) Moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:moderate, Thesaurus:temperate
- 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 31:
- God help me to watch and to be sober.
- 1680, John Dryden, “The Preface to Ovid’s Epistles”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Epistles, […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
- [N]o ſober man vvould put himſelf into a danger for the Applauſe of ſcaping vvithout breaking his Neck.
- 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 230d:
- Which is the finest and soberest state possible.
- (of color) Dull; not bright or colorful.
- Synonyms: muted, subdued; see also Thesaurus:dim
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Twilight grey / Had in her sober livery all things clad.
- Subdued; solemn; grave.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:serious
- 1717, Alexander Pope, Letter from Edward Blount, Esq.:
- See her sober over a sampler, or gay over a jointed baby.
- 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC:
- What parts gay France from sober Spain? A little rising rocky chain.
- (Scotland) Poor; feeble.
Derived terms
Translations
not drunk
|
not given to excessive drinking of alcohol
|
moderate
|
dull
|
See also
Verb
sober (third-person singular simple present sobers, present participle sobering, simple past and past participle sobered)
- (often with up) To make or become sober.
- 1711, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism:
- There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, / And drinking largely sobers us again.
- 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, page 53:
- The night air may have sobered him a bit by the time they got back to Beattock.
- (often with up) To overcome or lose a state of intoxication.
- It took him hours to sober up.
- To moderate one's feelings; to accept a disappointing reality after losing one's ability to believe in a fantastic goal.
- Losing his job was a sobering experience.
Translations
make or become sober
|
Anagrams
Remove ads
Danish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -oːbər
Adjective
sober
- sober (in character; moderate; realistic; serious)
Inflection
1 When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2 The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.
Remove ads
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius. Doublet of zuiver.
Pronunciation
Adjective
sober (comparative soberder, superlative soberst)
Declension
Derived terms
- soberheid
Swedish
Etymology
Adjective
sober (comparative sobrare, superlative sobrast)
Inflection
1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
2 Dated or archaic.
3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
References
Anagrams
Remove ads
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads