sublimate
Americanverb (used with object)
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Psychology. to divert the energy of (a sexual or other biological impulse) from its immediate goal to one of a more acceptable social, moral, or aesthetic nature or use.
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Chemistry.
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to sublime (a solid substance); extract by this process.
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to refine or purify (a substance).
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to make nobler or purer.
To read about great men sublimates ambition.
verb (used without object)
noun
adjective
verb
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psychol to direct the energy of (a primitive impulse, esp a sexual one) into activities that are considered to be socially more acceptable
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(tr) to make purer; refine
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sublimablenessnoun
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sublimationnoun
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sublimableadjective
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supersublimatedadjective
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unsublimatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sublimatesimple
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sublimatessimple
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have sublimatedperfect
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has sublimatedperfect
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am sublimatingprogressive
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are sublimatingprogressive
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is sublimatingprogressive
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have been sublimatingperfect progressive
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has been sublimatingperfect progressive
Past
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sublimatedsimple
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had sublimatedperfect
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was sublimatingprogressive
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were sublimatingprogressive
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had been sublimatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sublimate
1425–75; late Middle English: exalted, sublimated < Latin sublīmātus (past participle of sublīmāre to elevate), equivalent to sublīm ( is ) sublime + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When you're at a lecture and you feel restless, you've got to sublimate the desire to move around. That means you force the desire to be more subtle so you can continue listening — even if you don't want to. Psychologists use the verb sublimate to describe the process of channeling intense energy into something useful or appropriate. Freud sublimated his desire to live at home with his mother, and he moved into his own apartment. Sublimate is related to the word sublime — both words come from the Latin word sublimare, which means "to raise up" or "to exalt." So Freud's finally getting his own place is, arguably, a superior — a more exalted — living situation.
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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.
Sublimate, sub′lim-āt, v.t. to elevate: to refine and exalt: to purify by raising by heat into vapour which again becomes solid.—n. the product of sublimation.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
The first Experiment, with a Solution of Sublimate, made White with Spirit of Urine, &c.
From Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours (1664) by Boyle, Robert
Sublimate the dignity of that bearing and of those features, and you will then have seen the fourteenth Duke somewhat as he stood reflected in the mirror of his room.
From Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story by Beerbohm, Max, Sir
For special purposes, for instance, the demonstration of mitoses, blood platelets, etc., other hardening reagents may be used with advantage: Sublimate, osmic acid, Flemming's fluid, and so forth.
From Histology of the Blood Normal and Pathological by Myers, W.
This Sublimate being a powerful Escarotick, eats away proud Flesh, and is of singular use in cleansing old Ulcers.
From The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method. by Le Clerc, Charles Gabriel
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.
