sober
Americanadjective
-
not intoxicated or drunk.
-
habitually temperate, especially in the use of liquor.
- Synonyms:
- abstemious, abstinent
-
quiet or sedate in demeanor, as persons.
-
marked by seriousness, gravity, solemnity, etc., as of demeanor, speech, etc..
a sober occasion.
- Antonyms:
- gay
-
subdued in tone, as color; not colorful or showy, as clothes.
-
free from excess, extravagance, or exaggeration.
sober facts.
-
showing self-control.
sober restraint.
-
sane or rational.
a sober solution to the problem.
- Synonyms:
- sound, reasonable
verb (used with or without object)
-
sobers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sobered,
past participle, past
-
sobering
present participle
adjective
-
not drunk
-
not given to excessive indulgence in drink or any other activity
-
sedate and rational
a sober attitude to a problem
-
(of colours) plain and dull or subdued
-
free from exaggeration or speculation
he told us the sober truth
verb
Synonym Usage
See grave 2.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
nonsobernessnoun
-
sobernessnoun
-
unsobernessnoun
-
nonsoberadjective
-
quasi-soberadjective
-
soberingadjective
-
unsoberadjective
-
unsoberedadjective
-
nonsoberlyadverb
-
quasi-soberlyadverb
-
soberinglyadverb
-
soberlyadverb
-
unsoberlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sobersimple
-
soberssimple
-
have soberedperfect
-
has soberedperfect
-
am soberingprogressive
-
are soberingprogressive
-
is soberingprogressive
-
have been soberingperfect progressive
-
has been soberingperfect progressive
Past
-
soberedsimple
-
had soberedperfect
-
was soberingprogressive
-
were soberingprogressive
-
had been soberingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sober
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English sobre, from Old French, from Latin sōbrius
Explanation
This adjective means the opposite of playful or drunk. When attending a funeral, you are expected to be sober in both senses. The most common meaning of sober is "not drunk" — people who drive need to be sober. Sober sounds a lot like somber, and it often means sad and quiet too, or sometimes too serious. Another meaning is to be logical or realistic about something. Sometimes sober means drab: a grey station wagon is a more sober vehicle than a hot red convertible. All of these meanings are quiet and restrained — unlike a person who has had a lot to drink.
Vocabulary lists containing sober
A Raisin in the Sun
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The Things They Carried
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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:
Others have also pointed to a cultural shift with more people skipping clubs for sober social events.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
“But the bad tweets are 100 percent sober tweets.”
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
The June half is expected to be more sober, he adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Conviction rates are lower than when the person assaulted was sober.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
It was brown and white, a sober and respectable room that looked to Shadow as if it had last been decorated in 1920.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Harrelson's Monday night appearance as a guest on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," and a good deal soberer may have reminded us of that.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2023
Perhaps that strikes us like a quick, hard smack, makes us soberer and more respectful of facts?
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2020
But in “Bare” as in “Wanderlust,” what starts as a renegade feminism gives way to a soberer truth.
From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2011
France, whose world reputation for temperance was belied by her world's record of one saloon for every 80 men, women and children, is a much soberer country today.
From Time Magazine Archive
But these are always counterbalanced in Paul by a wider and soberer view, which tends more and more to get the upper hand.
From The Making of the New Testament by Benjamin Wisner Bacon
Research shows Gen Z is one of the soberest generations ever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
The soberest predictions of automation job loss still rely on a lattice of interlocking predictions that may not come true.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2021
Social media sites and football message boards, prone to conspiracy theories, hyperbole and fabrications in even the soberest scenarios, went wild.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2020
But Barlow’s style was hyperbolic at the soberest of times.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2018
On the big day, a dozen of our tall and not-so-tall young ladies presented themselves in their soberest hats, clutching letters of reference in their cleanest white gloves.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
So you can understand the muted celebration in Julia Wolfe’s “Her Story,” an oratorio-like work that originated as a commemoration of the 19th Amendment yet sobers as much as it rouses.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2022
A circa-1900 vaudevillian sobers up to wrest his wife and son from a sleazy manager handling their act.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2019
“That sobers you up, to realize you’re at the point where they’re honoring your body of work,” said Lucas, 71, who received the 2012 National Medal of Arts from President Obama.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 15, 2015
"It sobers you," Carter said of his injury.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2012
His face sobers, grows older in the glow of the red tail-lights.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
“The realities of contemporary pricing sobered us up very quickly. We abandoned the idea.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Mr Geoghegan replied: "No. I think he probably got there and thought, 'Why am I here?', sobered up and decided to come back."
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2025
“Participants were almost uniformly sobered by the paucity of effective constraints on abuse of power.”
From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2024
But Osadchyi and other Ukrainian researchers have been sobered by what they’ve found so far.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 3, 2024
I kept hushing them, and they finally sobered up when I reminded them we were not libre yet.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
"This is a sobering reminder of the power of nature," he added.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
It was a sobering rejection, and made me realize that finding an adviser isn’t like hiring a contractor who actively bids for your business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
That’s a sobering statistic for the Chargers, Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all winless so far.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
It just issued a new recent report on the state of American democracy and the effects of its decline on the rest of the world, and the conclusions are sobering.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026
For in that case each would still be a self-contained uni-verse, freed forever from the sobering influence of external danger.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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