sophisticate

[suh-fis-ti-kit, -keyt, suh-fis-ti-keyt]

noun

1. a sophisticated person.

adjective

1. sophisticated.

verb (used with object)

sophisticated, sophisticating 

1. to make less natural, simple, or ingenuous; make worldly-wise.

2. to alter; pervert.

   to sophisticate a meaning beyond recognition.

verb (used without object)

sophisticated, sophisticating 

1. to use sophistry; quibble.

sophisticate

verb

1. (tr) to make (someone) less natural or innocent, as by education

2. to pervert or corrupt (an argument, etc) by sophistry

3. (tr) to make more complex or refined

4. rare,  to falsify (a text, etc) by alterations

noun

1. a sophisticated person

Other Word Forms

• outsophisticate verb (used with object)
• sophisticator noun
• sophistication noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sophisticate¹

1350–1400; Middle English (adj. and v.) < Medieval Latin sophisticātus (past participle of sophisticāre to tamper with, disguise, trick with words), equivalent to Latin sophistic ( us ) ( sophistic ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of sophisticate¹

C14: from Medieval Latin sophisticāre, from Latin sophisticus sophistic

Example Sentences

Barque Canada Reef, Vietnam’s largest and most sophisticated artificial island in the South China Sea, illustrates major new facilities and their purpose.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The United States has a sophisticated testing system that doesn’t require setting off explosions, and when it comes to deterrence, nobody in the world assumes that America’s arsenal is full of duds.

Read more on Salon

The noma "touch" owes much to fermentation -- which can render even pine edible -- as well as to its sophisticated broths.

Read more on Barron's

The work suggests that sophisticated coordination might not require sophisticated machines.

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As for duration risk: If Circle reaches Fed infrastructure scale and doesn’t have sophisticated risk management, it deserves what happens.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• corrupt 
• degrade 
• pollute