sober
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]- enPR: sō'bə(r), IPA(key): /ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsoʊ.bɚ/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊbə(ɹ)
- Homophone: soba (non-rhotic)
Adjective
[edit]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)[1], performed by Taylor Swift, published 2023 October 27:
- 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.
- Synonym: 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.
- (figurative) Moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:moderate, Thesaurus:serious
- 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.
- 1681, John Dryden, “The Preface to Ovid’s Epistles”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Epistles, […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 21:
- [N]o sober man would put himſelf into danger for the Applauſe of ſcaping without 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.
- 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
[edit]Translations
[edit]not drunk
|
not given to excessive drinking of alcohol
|
moderate
|
dull
|
subdued; solemn; grave
See also
[edit]Verb
[edit]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
[edit]make or become sober
|
overcome intoxication
|
Anagrams
[edit]Danish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From French sobre, from Latin sobrius.
Pronunciation
[edit]- Rhymes: -oːbər
Adjective
[edit]sober
- sober (in character; moderate; realistic; serious)
Inflection
[edit]| Inflection of sober | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
| Indefinte common singular | sober | sobrere | sobrest2 |
| Indefinite neuter singular | sobert | sobrere | sobrest2 |
| Plural | sobre | sobrere | sobrest2 |
| Definite attributive1 | sobre | sobrere | sobreste |
| 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. | |||
Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle Dutch sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius. Doublet of zuiver.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]sober (comparative soberder, superlative soberst)
Declension
[edit]| Declension of sober | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uninflected | sober | |||
| inflected | sobere | |||
| comparative | soberder | |||
| positive | comparative | superlative | ||
| predicative/adverbial | sober | soberder | het soberst het soberste | |
| indefinite | m./f. sing. | sobere | soberdere | soberste |
| n. sing. | sober | soberder | soberste | |
| plural | sobere | soberdere | soberste | |
| definite | sobere | soberdere | soberste | |
| partitive | sobers | soberders | — | |
Derived terms
[edit]Swedish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Adjective
[edit]sober (comparative sobrare, superlative sobrast)
Inflection
[edit]| Inflection of sober | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | sober | sobrare | sobrast |
| Neuter singular | sobert | sobrare | sobrast |
| Plural | sobra | sobrare | sobrast |
| Masculine plural3 | sobre | sobrare | sobrast |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | sobre | sobrare | sobraste |
| All | sobra | sobrare | sobraste |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic | |||
References
[edit]- sober in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- sober in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- sober in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁egʷʰ-
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/əʊbə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/əʊbə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- Scottish English
- English verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- Danish terms derived from French
- Danish terms derived from Latin
- Rhymes:Danish/oːbər
- Rhymes:Danish/oːbər/2 syllables
- Danish lemmas
- Danish adjectives
- Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Old French
- Dutch terms derived from Latin
- Dutch doublets
- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Dutch/oːbər
- Rhymes:Dutch/oːbər/2 syllables
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch adjectives
- Swedish terms borrowed from French
- Swedish terms derived from French
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish adjectives