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:
Even the sober Gen Zers I know still go out — they’ve just swapped negronis for mocktails.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
She’s been sober for 20 years, she writes, remarried and now has a son with her second husband.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
"In a sober mind, it's not easy," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
The author takes a sober approach to these qualms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Fortunately more sober types were at work elsewhere.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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
Since retiring from the editorship of the American Mercury, Mencken has brought out several treatises in soberer vein.
From Time Magazine Archive
He rises, brushing off the tears In silence as he glides again; And typifies through all our years The soberer course which follows pain.
From A Century of Emblems by G. S. Cautley
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
Peter instantly sobers up, utters the key line of the movie, “Let’s go save our friend,” and off they go.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2023
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
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again.’
From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
By the time Prohibition was repealed in 1933, America was left not sobered, but hungover by its own contradictions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 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
El Patron looked around the audience, and several people tried to smile.They met El Patron’s steely eyes and immediately sobered up.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
But this recent slide has been sobering, with virtually all bats going cold at once.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Apollo’s latest research provides an even more sobering picture.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Even more sobering for me was the sight of another Bentley grazing the hay bales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
His discussion of dying in an unprotected Air Force One and taking reporters with him, and his constant acknowledgement of threats against his life, are sobering and concerning.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Once I’d conjured up that sobering image, I was able to focus on my situation, and the question at hand: What was she doing here?
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
