What means sober

Sober Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

1 of 2

so·ber ˈsō-bər

: not intoxicated

He's a half-decent guy when he's sober, but when he's drunk, he's just not accountable for what he does, and he spends a lot of time drunk.—Stephen King

: abstaining from drinking alcohol or taking intoxicating drugs : refraining from the use of addictive substances (see substance sense 3c)

Blossom learns that life isn't always rosy, especially for recovering substance abusers, when she discovers her brother Anthony—clean and sober for two years—wilting when he's tempted by a liquor bottle. —TV Guide

: sparing in the use of food and drink : abstemious

He was a large, saturnine man, … comparatively sober in his habits, as people must be who make money out of other people's vices.—Dorothy L. Sayers

: marked by sedate or gravely or earnestly thoughtful character or demeanor

: unhurried, calm

: marked by temperance, moderation, or seriousness

a sober candlelight vigil

: subdued in tone or color

: showing no excessive or extreme qualities of fancy, emotion, or prejudice

soberly

ˈsō-bər-lē

adverb

soberness noun

sober

2 of 2

transitive verb

: to make sober

intransitive verb

: to become sober

—usually used with up

Synonyms

Adjective

clearheaded
straight

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Example Sentences

Adjective I'm driving, so I have to stay sober tonight. He is a sober, hardworking farmer. The story is a sober look at drug abuse. Illness is a sober reminder of our mortality. The article is a sober reflection on the state of our nation. Verb He returned home from the war, saddened and sobered by his experiences. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Cooper gives us all of Costello, from her sweet love for her daughter and her pride at having gotten sober to her moments of explosive rage. —Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Mar. 2023 After breaking her son’s no-drinking house rules, Leslie returns to her small West Texas hometown to stay with her former friends, get sober and face her demons. —Danielle Directo-meston, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan. 2023 The couple said what would help motivate them to get sober is housing. —Mallory Moench, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Dec. 2022 Between 2020 and 2021, the pair got sober and underwent therapy, returning this year with Sing Me a Lullaby, My Sweet Temptation, technically their 47th project. —Mackenzie Cummings-grady, Billboard, 7 Oct. 2022 San Pedro underwent a 48-day treatment in the same facility in Miami that had helped his brother get sober three years earlier. —Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 10 Sep. 2022 Elysse got sober before entering college but soon found that seemingly everyone on her dorm floor habitually used weed. —New York Times, 23 June 2022 Writer Don Birnam has been sober for only a few days, but his brother, Wick (played by Phillip Terry) is supposed to visit for the weekend—and Don is eager for a drink. —Emily Burack, Town & Country, 26 Jan. 2023 Especially as a younger person and somebody who got sober at 19. —Cathy Applefeld Olson, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2023

While Gonzaga and Arizona were both ranked in the top five when the Wildcats passed through Spokane last season, both are now coming off the sort of tough losses that can sober up the mood a little. —Bruce Pascoe, The Arizona Republic, 27 Jan. 2023 Maybe that sobering memory ultimately convinced him to sober up. —Vulture, 29 Dec. 2022 Kai went to his mother's house in Lahaina to sober up. —Dateline Nbc, NBC News, 6 Dec. 2022 Workers who show up drunk these days are sent home to sober up. —Sydney Ember Kim Raff, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2022 From a dovish Fed that spiked the proverbial punch bowl to a hawkish one that's trying to sober everyone up with higher interest rates. —Allison Morrow, CNN, 4 Aug. 2022 Reality can quickly sober the joy of auction victory. —Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 1 July 2022 Friedman sets the scene by reminding us that starting well before 1973, Cohen had a reputation for being gloomy and restless, prone to depression and drugs, and whether high or sober a seductive charmer of women. —Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2022 Schmidt explained to the nurse that there was nothing for her father to sober up from. —Kelly Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sober.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English sobre, from Anglo-French, from Latin sobrius; akin to Latin ebrius drunk

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1c

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler

The first known use of sober was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Dictionary Entries Near

sober

so be it

sober

sobering

See More Nearby Entries

Cite this Entry

Style

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“Sober. ” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sober. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

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Kids Definition

sober

1 of 2 adjective

so·ber ˈsō-bər

: sparing especially in the use of food and drink

: not drunk

: having a serious attitude : solemn

: having a quiet tone or color

: well reasoned and balanced

a sober decision

soberly

-bər-lē

adverb

soberness noun

sober

2 of 2 verb

: to make or become sober

More from Merriam-Webster on

sober

Nglish: Translation of sober for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of sober for Arabic Speakers

Last Updated: 15 Mar 2023 - Updated example sentences

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Merriam-Webster unabridged

Sober Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.

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British

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[ soh-ber ]

/ ˈsoʊ bər /

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See synonyms for: sober / sobered / sobering / sobers on Thesaurus.com

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

adjective, so·ber·er, so·ber·est.

not intoxicated or drunk.

habitually temperate, especially in the use of liquor.

quiet or sedate in demeanor, as persons.

marked by seriousness, gravity, solemnity, etc., as of demeanor, speech, etc.: a sober occasion.

subdued in tone, as color; not colorful or showy, as clothes.

free from excess, extravagance, or exaggeration: sober facts.

showing self-control: sober restraint.

sane or rational: a sober solution to the problem.

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become sober: (often followed by up).

OTHER WORDS FOR sober

2 abstinent, abstemious.

4 serious, quiet, sedate, subdued, staid.

5 somber, dull.

7 composed, collected.

8 reasonable, sound.

See synonyms for sober on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR sober

4 gay.

See antonyms for sober on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

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Question 1 of 7

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Origin of sober

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English sobre, from Old French, from Latin sōbrius

synonym study for sober

4. See grave².

historical usage of sober

English sober comes from Middle English sobre, sober(e), sobor, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius “sober (not intoxicated), in possession of one’s faculties, staid and sensible in behavior.” Sōbrius appears to be a compound of the preposition and prefix sē, sē- “apart, aside, by oneself” and the adjective ēbrius “drunk, intoxicated” (the derivative adjective ēbriōsus means “addicted to alcohol, alcoholic”). The adjective sōbrius therefore means “not drunk,” which is an odd way of looking at things, as if sobriety were the unusual condition and drunkenness the normal.
Ēbrius ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root egwh- “to drink” (the consonant gwh regularly becomes b in Latin and ph in Greek). The Latin suffix -ri- added to egwh- yields the stem for the adjective ēbrius. In Greek, the root egwh- is prefixed by the negative particle ne-, becoming first nēgwh and then nēph-, the stem of the Greek verb nḗphein “to be sober. ”

OTHER WORDS FROM sober

so·ber·ly, adverbso·ber·ness, nounnon·so·ber, adjectivenon·so·ber·ly, adverb

non·so·ber·ness, nounqua·si-so·ber, adjectivequa·si-so·ber·ly, adverbun·so·ber, adjectiveun·so·ber·ly, adverbun·so·ber·ness, nounun·so·bered, adjective

Words nearby sober

soave, Soay, sob, soba, sobeit, sober, sober as a judge, sober-headed, sobering, soberize, sober-minded

Words related to sober

calm, restrained, sedate, serious, dark, disciplined, dispassionate, down-to-earth, earnest, levelheaded, low-key, lucid, no-nonsense, practical, quiet, rational, realistic, reasonable, serene, solemn

How to use sober in a sentence

Cruz stayed sober for a while, but when Raeann’s first birthday after the accident passed, he relapsed.
Victor Ray Cruz Wanted to Turn His Life Around — Then He Got the Coronavirus|Maya Srikrishnan and Adriana Heldiz|October 22, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Van Halen, sober since 2008, lost one-third of his tongue to a cancer that eventually drifted into his esophagus.
Guitar legend Eddie Van Halen dies of cancer at 65|radmarya|October 6, 2020|Fortune
After the officers left, he got back up and asked the attendant if he could leave, since he was sober.
Those Ticketed for Seditious Language Say Their Only Crime Was Talking Back|Kate Nucci|September 9, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Some in recovery — even those clean and sober for decades — say they have doubled or tripled their recovery meeting attendance during the pandemic.
How the Pandemic Is a Boon to Recovering Addicts|Fiona Zublin|August 24, 2020|Ozy

On the other hand, use the rel values such as ugc to tag your user-generated content, and sponsored for the paid links — this will help Google make a sober assessment of your ranking.
Eight HTML elements crucial for SEO|Aleh Barysevich|May 5, 2020|Search Engine Watch
I try to stay sober enough to maneuver back to West Hollywood.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He manages to talk one of them into a glass or two, but for the most part he remains sober.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And things seemed fine between the couple, with the crooner appearing sober and healthier-looking, with a new crew cut.
Creed Singer Scott Stapp’s Fall From Grace: From 40 Million Albums Sold to Living in a Holiday Inn|Marlow Stern|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Today, however, the 36-year-old musician is sober—and even showers once in a while.
Julian Casablancas Enters the Void: On the Strokes’ Friction, Why He Left NYC, and Starting Over|Marlow Stern|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She's well spoken, educated, and sober—a far cry from the one-time face of the adult world, Jenna Jameson.
Porn Keeps Up with the Kardashians: Belle Knox on the Mainstreaming of Adult Stars|Aurora Snow|September 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This does not seem strange when we know what a sober, serious, dignified man Yung Pak's father was.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike
In sober truth it might as well lay one open to the charge of being an ornithologist.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
Darry Drew was one of those quiet, gentlemanly fellows, who seem rather too sober for their years.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn|Margaret Penrose
To which Mr. Sikes replied, he was joking;as if he had been sober, there would have been strong reason to suppose he was.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3)|Charles Dickens
That counter-blast of passion and that plain speaking from a quarter so unexpected served, in part at least, to sober him.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for sober

sober

/ (ˈsəʊbə) /

adjective

not drunk

not given to excessive indulgence in drink or any other activity

sedate and rationala sober attitude to a problem

(of colours) plain and dull or subdued

free from exaggeration or speculationhe told us the sober truth

verb

(usually foll by up) to make or become less intoxicated, reckless, etc

Derived forms of sober

sobering, adjectivesoberingly, adverbsoberly, adverbsoberness, noun

Word Origin for sober

C14 sobre, from Old French, from Latin sōbrius

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

sober | it's... What is sober?

InterpretationTranslation

sober

adj. , used comp. often

Morphology: sober , sober , sober , sober and sober ; sober ; ext. sober

1. Sober is a person who is not drunk.

2. If someone says about himself that he is sober as a glass , this means that this person insists that he is not drunk, assures someone of his sobriety.

I was sober as glass, but despite this, I was rocking from side to side.

3. Sober is the behavior of a person who does not drink alcoholic beverages.

Sober lifestyle. | I have been in the service for about thirty years; serve well, conduct sober.

4. Sober refers to someone's actions, reasoning, etc., which are based on considerations of common sense.

A sober assessment. | Sober calculation, choice. | A sober understanding of the situation. | Today we need a calm and sober analysis of all the pages of Russian history. | A sober forecast can only be built on the basis of past experience. |

male

Take a sober look at things.

5. Phrase What is on the mind of a sober person is on the tongue of a drunk means that under the influence of intoxication a person begins to say what he does not dare to say in his usual state.

• sobriety n. , f.

Sobriety of views.

Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language. D.V. Dmitriev. 2003.

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Synonyms eye, not in one eye, reasonable, reasonable, rational, with his head on his shoulders, dry, sober, sober, sober, sober-minded, sober, smart, at least in one eye, expedient, chaste

Antonyms :

drunk

anxious

wag

Useful

What does sober mean - Meanings of words

sober in the crossword dictionary

sober

Antonym of the word "drunk"

Antonym of the word "drunk"

Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Vladimir Dal

sober

sober, sober, readable, not drunk, not intoxicated;

generally abstemious in drinks, non-drinker and inexhaustible. Sober person. - life. * A sober head, reasonable, not a dreamer. They drink wisely, but they beat the sober without the mind. What a sober man does not say, a drunken man will untie. A drunken fist cuts down a tree, and a sober one does not even take an ax! A fool is smart, but a drunkard does not like a sober man. I will quarrel with the drunk, but I will make peace with the sober. Drunk speech, sober thought. A sober thought, but a drunken speech. Sobriety quality and property adj. Our people are not famous for sobriety. To sober up someone, to sober up, to try to bring someone into sobriety, to make a drunk wake up, to drive away hops. They sobered up, dousing their heads with cold water. Oh, they're suffering. or return within the meaning of.

Be sober, abstain. Be sober and watch, Peter; don't lose your mind. Sober up, sober up someone. sobriety cf. church old abstinence, sober life, fasting. Sober-minded, abstinent. If you are a fasting and sober person, about everything . .. but you can’t endure vexation, you can’t be saved, old. Sobriety sib. comic. light grape wine.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

sober

sober, sober; sober, sober, sober

Not Drunk. Drunk - everything beats, sober - everything grumbles. Nekrasov. Be sober.

full only forms. Keeping sobriety (sobriety in 2 meanings), not drinking alcoholic beverages (colloquial). One son drinks and the other is sober. Soberly (adv.) and honestly live. Nekrasov.

rev. Distinguished by sound judgment, free from self-deception, illusions. He was a man of sober mind. Sholokhov. A sober look at things. Sober scientific realism. Soberly (adv.) to think about something.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language.
S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova.
sober

th, th; sober, -a, -o, -s and -s.

Not drunk, not tipsy. Sober state. Sober as glass (colloquial jest.).

(m. -s). Abstinent in the use of alcoholic beverages, not drinking. He is a positive person.

rev. Healthy, thoughtful. T. view of events. Soberly (adv.) to reason.

noun sobriety, and (to 1 and 3 values).

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

sober

m.

One who is not drunk.

rev. He who is distinguished by sound judgment is free from illusions, self-deception.

app.

Not drunk.

Non-drinker, sober (2).

rev. Distinguished by sound judgment, free from illusions, self-deception.

Examples of the use of the word sober in the literature.

Steffens enriched the autobiographical genre with a sober socio-historical analysis.

Seeing what was the matter, Akaky Akakiyevich decided that the greatcoat would have to be taken to Petrovich, a tailor who lived somewhere on the fourth floor up the back stairs, who, despite his crooked eye and the ripples all over his face, was doing rather successful repairs bureaucratic and all sorts of pantaloons and tailcoats - of course, when he was in a sober state and did not harbor any other enterprise in his head.

A sober calculation prevailed, but if the idea of a choice came to Rabin's mind at all, then an alternative world immediately arose in which the Israeli prime minister, citing his historical role, refused to shake hands and left for Tel Aviv.

This was already understood by Anaxagoras, whom Aristotle calls the only sober one among idle talkers, because he was the first to point out the cosmic Reason as the cause of the world order.

With both hands, so as not to spill it, Ando brought the cup to his lips, poured a yellowish liquid into himself and answered in an unexpectedly sober voice, - I also somehow thought about it.

The work of English realists to some extent combines sober, merciless realism with elements of romantic criticism, the socially accusatory, anti-bourgeois nature of realism with romantic images and situations.

Only chronic alcoholics are sober in the Antiworld, and all the rest live constantly drunk in shit.

And here in biology, comrade graduate student, - Androsiashvili suddenly yelled, rolling his eyes, - in our biology, dear, only ideas based on a sober materialistic approach are acceptable!

The most seemingly incompatible traits - daydreaming and effectiveness, flight of fancy and practicality, love for goodness and ruthlessness, breadth of soul and sober calculation, passionate love for earthly joys and self-restraint - these seemingly incompatible traits together created a unique face of this generation.
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