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:
Bonus: my car smelled sublime — minty and fresh — the entire way home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
As he began his bid to win two majors in the same season for the first time since 2014, McIlroy lurched from the sublime off the tee to the ridiculous on the green.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Having taken a bathroom break before the second set, a re-energised Gauff returned with more aggression, and she eventually found a way past Muchova on her ninth break point with a sublime cross-court backhand winner.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Its sublime sweeping curve is the terse expression of a complex thought.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
His attitude to me was the same as that to the attendant; in his sublime self-feeling the difference between myself and attendant seemed to him as nothing.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Likewise, solid carbon dioxide does not melt at 1 atm pressure but instead sublimes to yield gaseous CO2.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
The pentachloride sublimes when warmed and forms an equilibrium with the trichloride and chlorine when heated.
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
In ignition tube it sublimes, giving arsenical ring.
From The Elements of Blowpipe Analysis by Frederick Hutton Getman
The incandescent carbon in the evacuated bulb sublimes or volatilizes and deposits upon the bulb.
From Artificial Light Its Influence upon Civilization by Matthew Luckiesh
Then a greenish white solid sublimed, and this was found to be aluminic ethylate.
From The Galaxy, Volume 23, No. 2, February, 1877 by Various
This early design embodying Blake’s favourite conception was destined to be enlarged and sublimed into one of the most magnificent inventions of Christian Art.
From William Blake A Study of His Life and Art Work by Irene Langridge
Like two that had died and found each other, they talked until speech rose into silence—they smiled until the dews which the smiles had sublimed claimed their turn and descended in tears.
From Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 20, August 1877 by Various
Hydrochloric acid and sulphuretted hydrogen are likewise plentiful, together with many other substances which, sublimed by the high internal temperature, take a solid form on cooling at the surface.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various
But no genuine science of astronomy was founded until the Greeks sublimed experience into theory.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various
A hydrocarbon, C6H4.C2O2.C6H4, subliming in shining yellow needless.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Noah Webster
They were constantly distilling, incinerating, subliming, heating, in order that the spirit, or inner kernel of things, might be obtained.
From The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry by M. M. Pattison Muir
But I believe he is chiefly meditating on the purging and subliming of what he has already done: and repents that he has published at all yet.
From Letters of Edward FitzGerald in two volumes, Vol. 1 by William Aldis Wright
The subliming the mercury is, however, a process injurious to the health.
From Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets by Daniel Young
On a commercial scale it is made by subliming a mixture of common salt and mercuric sulphate: 2NaCl + HgSO4 = HgCl2 + Na2SO4.
From An Elementary Study of Chemistry by William McPherson
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.
