sedate
Americanadjective
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
habitually calm and composed in manner; serene
-
staid, sober, or decorous
verb
Related Words
See staid.
Other Word Forms
- sedately adverb
- sedateness noun
- unsedate adjective
- unsedately adverb
- unsedateness noun
Etymology
Origin of sedate
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin sēdātus (past participle of sēdāre “to allay, quieten”); akin to sedēre “to sit”; sit 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the recent Fish and Game Commission meeting, Samantha Murray, commission vice president, described him as having a “steady, calm, like, sedate presence,” and hailed his long institutional knowledge.
From Los Angeles Times
The patient is sedated and covered up on the operating table.
From BBC
As digital assets trade 24/7, the typically quiet holiday period may not be so sedate for crypto stocks.
From Barron's
And while sedating antihistamines like diphenhydramine might help you sleep at night, they don't treat the cough itself.
From BBC
The back of the room — populated with parents, guardians and supervisors — is more sedate.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
