- present participle of sober.
sobering
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sobering
Explanation
Something that's sobering is serious, and even a little bit worrying. It's sobering to learn that someone you love is very ill. You can use the adjective sobering when you talk about news that feels heavy and important. Environmental studies about climate change are sobering, and statistics about the number of stray dogs and cats in the country are sobering too. Things that are sobering make you feel sober, or serious and solemn. The Latin root, sobrius, means "not intoxicated," which is also the original definition of sober.
Vocabulary lists containing sobering
Song of Solomon
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You Call This Democracy?
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I Must Betray You
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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.
Perhaps the most sobering statistic in this documentary is that there are eight million adults in the UK who struggle with even basic levels of literacy.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
But here’s a sobering estimate: to justify all the cash being invested in AI, American businesses and consumers would have to spend about as much on AI in 2032 as they do on food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh shared several sobering injury updates Monday in the wake of Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
"The thought that all of these beautiful creatures and habitats could be compromised as superpowers slug it out for supremacy is sobering."
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
In the future we may well be able to assemble nucleotides in any desired sequence, to produce whatever characteristics we think desirable—a sobering and disquieting prospect.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
