sedate
Americanadjective
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
habitually calm and composed in manner; serene
-
staid, sober, or decorous
verb
Synonym Usage
See staid.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sedatesimple
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sedatessimple
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have sedatedperfect
-
has sedatedperfect
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am sedatingprogressive
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are sedatingprogressive
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is sedatingprogressive
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have been sedatingperfect progressive
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has been sedatingperfect progressive
Past
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sedatedsimple
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had sedatedperfect
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was sedatingprogressive
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were sedatingprogressive
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had been sedatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sedate
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin sēdātus (past participle of sēdāre “to allay, quieten”); akin to sedēre “to sit”; see sit 1
Explanation
Sedate means to be calm, but if a doctor sedates you it means you've been administered a tranquilizing drug. Most surgeries require some form of sedation, but to be sedate in day-to-day life means composed, quiet, and serene. Not necessarily unconscious. To be sedate when dining with the Queen means that you behaved with dignity and solemnity. To be sedated when dining with the Queen means that you were face down in the bread pudding and drooling onto the tablecloth. The medical sense of the word is to be tranquilized, either to calm your nerves after a shock or in preparation for surgery. Socially, to be sedate is to be serene, quiet, and composed.
Vocabulary lists containing sedate
A Separate Peace
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Mellow Out: Synonyms for "Calm"
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National Nurses Week: Tasks and Equipment
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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.
Nursing homes have a powerful incentive to sedate residents, and comparatively few people are watching.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
Amateur racers, pimped-out coupes, woodies and ragtops, sedate sedans and souped-up hot rods, all shared the brand-new, wide-open freeways and boulevards.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
In the low-key and sedate drama “Midwinter Break,” a married couple who have been together a very long time treat each other with nothing but love, tenderness and respect.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
There was another two-star review from the Guardian's Arifa Akbar, who said the show's atmosphere is "sedate", with "no peril whatsoever".
From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026
The house—for the most part designed by Mr. Clutter, who thereby proved himself a sensible and sedate, if not notably decorative, architect—had been built in 1948 for forty thousand dollars.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
