soporific
Americanadjective
-
causing or tending to cause sleep.
-
pertaining to or characterized by sleep or sleepiness; sleepy; drowsy.
noun
adjective
-
inducing sleep
-
drowsy; sleepy
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of soporific
1655–65; < Latin sopor sopor + -i- + -fic; compare French soporifique
Explanation
Something that is soporific is sleep-inducing. Certain medicines, but also extreme coziness, can have a soporific effect. In the 1680’s, soporific, which doubles as both adjective and noun, was formed from the French soporifique. That word, in turn, came from the Latin sopor “deep sleep.” Beloved Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter once noted that, “It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific'."
Vocabulary lists containing soporific
Jane Eyre
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 6
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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.
The reductive strategy so nearly secured successive World Cup finals - but often proved soporific for supporters.
From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026
So what would a survivor of a crime portrayed on “Forensic Files” think about his or her own personal tragedy being used as a soporific?
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025
Shimizu is an exploratory jazz musician who has of late gained popularity for his television scores and inoffensively ambient music that employs soporific electronics.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025
It’s so effective a soporific that most nights I struggle to read for more than 10 minutes, which is both satisfying and maddening.
From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2024
By October San Piedro had slipped off its summer reveler’s mask to reveal a torpid, soporific dreamer whose winter bed was made of wet green moss.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
