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:
But one of the things to wonder at amid the good vibes is whether a different, more coherent, more sober scene would have been more meaningful, more enduring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The message is more sober than Gates’s 2023 essay on AI, when he wrote he was as excited about this revolution as the internet and PC rollouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Inquests are officially meant to be inquisitorial - their aim is to find facts in a calm, sober way.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
For those charged with keeping travellers safe, meanwhile, it is a sober responsibility.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
He’s dressed in his uniform, sober black with the rows of insignia and decorations.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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
And while the story of Violet and Daisy’s journey toward a soberer recognition of their limits is not joyous, the art and craft that have gone into Condon’s production are full of joy.
From Washington Post
Men who had left camp and field for the soberer routine of civil life were not yet fully domesticated.
From Atlantic Classics by Various
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
A Brooklyn chorus-girl sobers up the son and advises the daughter of a rich family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2019
Duncan MacMillan’s portrait of an actress and her addictions, vivified by a searing turn from Denise Gough, sobers up for the end of its run.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2017
“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
In the book, Peoria leaves his job, sobers up, becomes a journalism professor at a small college, and falls in love.
From Slate ● Jun. 10, 2014
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
“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
Since 2017, as the government has been more public about the phenomenon, the conversation has sobered up somewhat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
On the way home, although the sky had sobered to a duty-stiff gray, Ralph decided to put the top of his car down.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
"The thought that all of these beautiful creatures and habitats could be compromised as superpowers slug it out for supremacy is sobering."
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
The sight afterwards was a sobering one as Itauma - who suffered a first defeat in his 15th pro fight - left the arena on a stretcher, before being taken to hospital.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Harris’ feather-light soprano is intoxicating, even when the story takes a sobering turn and the protagonist’s mother decides she’s had enough.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
That’s a sobering thought given America’s surging federal debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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
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.
