sober

English

Etymology

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

• enPR: sō'bə(r), IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊ.bɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊbə(ɹ)
• Homophone: soba (in non-rhotic accents)

Adjective

sober (comparative soberer, superlative soberest)

1. Not drunk; not intoxicated.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sober

   Antonyms: drunk; see also Thesaurus:drunk

2. Not under the influence of any recreational drug.
3. 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.

   • 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.

4. (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 Ponder , →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, , 1928, →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.

5. (of color) Dull; not bright or colorful.

   Synonyms: muted, subdued

   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:

     Twilight grey / Had in her sober livery all things clad.

6. 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.

7. (Scotland) Poor; feeble.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• teetotaller

Verb

sober (third-person singular simple present sobers, present participle sobering, simple past and past participle sobered)

1. (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.

2. (often with up) To overcome or lose a state of intoxication.

   It took him hours to sober up.

3. 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

Anagrams

• Bores, Boers, Serob, Serbo-, Brose, robes, Obers, bores, Boser, brose, Beros

Danish

Etymology

From French sobre, from Latin sobrius.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -oːbər

Adjective

sober

1. sober (in character; moderate; realistic; serious)

Inflection

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius. Doublet of zuiver.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːbər

Adjective

sober (comparative soberder, superlative soberst)

1. simple, plain, austere

   Synonym: eenvoudig

   Antonym: overdadig

2. sober, not drunk

   Synonym: nuchter

   Antonym: dronken

Declension

Derived terms

Swedish

Etymology

From French sobre.

Adjective

sober (comparative sobrare, superlative sobrast)

1. moderate
2. stylish, discreetly tasteful

Inflection

References

• sober in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sober in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sober in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• sobre