sublime
Americanadjective
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elevated or lofty in thought, language, etc.: Paradise Lost is sublime poetry.
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impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration, etc..
Switzerland has sublime scenery.
- Synonyms:
- majestic, imposing, resplendent, gorgeous, grand, august, superb, magnificent
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supreme or outstanding.
a sublime dinner.
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complete; absolute; utter.
sublime stupidity.
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Archaic.
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of lofty bearing.
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Archaic. raised high; high up.
noun
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sublimes
plural
verb (used with object)
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to make higher, nobler, or purer.
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Chemistry.
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to convert (a solid substance) by heat into a vapor, which on cooling condenses again to solid form, without apparent liquefaction.
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to cause to be given off by this or some analogous process.
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verb (used without object)
adjective
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of high moral, aesthetic, intellectual, or spiritual value; noble; exalted
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inspiring deep veneration, awe, or uplifting emotion because of its beauty, nobility, grandeur, or immensity
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unparalleled; supreme
a sublime compliment
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poetic of proud bearing or aspect
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archaic raised up
noun
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something that is sublime
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the ultimate degree or perfect example
the sublime of folly
verb
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(tr) to make higher or purer
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to change or cause to change directly from a solid to a vapour or gas without first melting
to sublime iodine
many mercury salts sublime when heated
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to undergo or cause to undergo this process followed by a reverse change directly from a vapour to a solid
to sublime iodine onto glass
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sublime
First recorded in 1350–1400; (for the noun and adjective) from Latin sublīmis “high,” equivalent to sub- sub- + an element of uncertain origin, variously identified with līmen “lintel, threshold” or līmus “askew, aslant”; (for the verb) ultimately derivative of sublīmis
Explanation
In common use, sublime is an adjective meaning "awe-inspiringly grand, excellent, or impressive," like the best chocolate fudge sundae you've ever had. You might describe a spine-tingling piece of music as "a work of sublime beauty." With the, the word also functions as a noun meaning "something that strikes the mind with a sense of grandeur or power": "Never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery," wrote Washington Irving. The beauty of music or nature can be awe-inspiring, but sublime is also useful for describing everything from an impressive serve in tennis to a jaw-droppingly good taste sensation.
Vocabulary lists containing sublime
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Grade 12, List 1
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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.
See Examples For:
To capture it, Jeon Do-yeon and Cho Yeo-jeong forged a sublime chemistry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Douglas Keeve’s sublime 1995 documentary, “Unzipped,” follows Mizrahi in the aftermath of a train wreck, piecing his reputation back together with his next collection, attempting to make something beautiful from the rubble.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
It was another reminder of Pogacar’s sublime talent but also his panache.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Other Stones records contain more classics and better production, but none holds together as well as a whole or comes as close to the sublime as this one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
His sublime portraits are partly the product of his time with ravenous flies and rotting bodies.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
The pentachloride sublimes when warmed and forms an equilibrium with the trichloride and chlorine when heated.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Likewise, solid carbon dioxide does not melt at 1 atm pressure but instead sublimes to yield gaseous CO2.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Dry ice does not melt to a liquid but sublimes directly from the solid state to vapor.
From Time Magazine Archive
The rare kindliness of the man so hallows and sublimes his memory that we half forget his artistic power, his purity of touch, his keenness of observation, his delightful and abounding humor.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 80, June, 1864 by Various
"Mercury, which completes the amalgam," the stout man muttered absently and as if to himself, "when heated sublimes over!"
From The Long Night by Stanley John Weyman
It is sublimed and sacrificed on the altar of holy passion.
From The Religious Sentiment Its Source and Aim: A Contribution to the Science and Philosophy of Religion by Daniel Garrison Brinton
The corroded white lead was somewhat whiter than the sublimed white lead, but a careful observation of the surface of the corroded lead revealed deep checking.
From Paint Technology and Tests by Henry A. Gardner
Look ye that yon frail flower should be sublimed To fruit commensurate with all your power And cunning art?
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 86, December, 1864 by Various
V. Is it play, when his eyes wander innocent-wild And sublimed with a sadness unfitting a child?
From The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Volume II by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
For further purification, it may be sublimed, after having been previously mixed with a little powdered charcoal, or it may be mixed with a small quantity of iodine and heated.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various
These piñas are then carefully weighed and put into a subliming furnace, Figs.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884 by Various
"I know what you want better than you do," he seems often to be saying to the metals he is calcining, separating, joining and subliming.
From The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry by M. M. Pattison Muir
The succinic acid is drawn from amber by sublimation in a gentle heat, and rises in a concrete form into the neck of the subliming vessel.
From Elements of Chemistry, In a New Systematic Order, Containing all the Modern Discoveries by Antoine Lavoisier
Children are very fond of attempting experiments in dying, and are very curious about vegetable dyes; but they can seldom proceed for want of the means of boiling, evaporating, distilling, and subliming.
From Practical Education, Volume I by Maria Edgeworth
Nor here alone the virtue reign’d, By matter’s cumb’rous form detain’d, But thence, subliming, and refin’d, Aspir’d, and reach’d its kindred mind.
From Moores Fables for the Female Sex by Edward Caldwell Moore
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.
