sober
Verb
Verb Forms: sobered, sobering, sobers
- To make or become sober, serious, or less excited.
- cause to become sober
- "A sobering thought"
- become more realistic
- "After thinking about the potential consequences of his plan, he sobered up"
- become sober after excessive alcohol consumption
- "Keep him in bed until he sobers up"
- To make or become sober.
- To overcome or lose a state of intoxication.
- To moderate one's feelings; to accept a disappointing reality after losing one's ability to believe in a fantastic goal.
Adjective
- Not drunk; serious and sensible; self-controlled.
- not affected by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
- completely lacking in playfulness
Adjective Satellite
- dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises
- "as sober as a judge"
- lacking brightness or color; dull
- "sober Puritan grey"
Adj
- Not drunk; not intoxicated.
- Not under the influence of any recreational drug.
- Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.
- Moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled.
- Dull; not bright or colorful.
- Subdued; solemn; grave.
- Poor; feeble.
Examples
- A sober mind is crucial for strategizing in a complex Words With Friends game.
- It took him hours to sober up.
- Losing his job was a sobering experience.
- Winning the game might sober him up to the fact that practice helps.
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
drab, grave, sedate, serious, sober up, solemn, somber, sombre, unplayful, abstemious, abstentious, abstinent, austere, bland, calm, clearheaded, collected, colourless, composed, continent, cool, demure, dim, dingy, dispassionate, dry, dull, earnest, faint, grievous, imperturbable, inexcitable, lack-laughter, lackluster, leaden, measured, mellow, middle of the road, mild, moderate, muddy, muted, nonexcessive, nonextreme, nonfanatic, on the wagon, proper, reasonable, reasonous, regular, sad, sage, saturnine, sober, sober as a judge, solemncholy, spareful, staid, steady, stern, stone-cold sober, subdued, sweer, temperate, tempered, thoughtful, uncolorful, undisturbed, undrunken, unexcessive, unexcitable, unexcited, unextreme, unholiday, unimpassioned, unintoxicated, unpassionate, unperturbed, unruffled, unstirred, unsusceptible, wan, weightsome, weighty
Antonyms
intoxicated, playful, abstemious, clean, clearheaded, drunk, on the wagon, sober, sober as a judge, stoned, teetotal
Scrabble Score: 7
sober: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordsober: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
sober: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary