- present participle of sober.
sobering
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sobering
Explanation
Something that's sobering is serious, and even a little bit worrying. It's sobering to learn that someone you love is very ill. You can use the adjective sobering when you talk about news that feels heavy and important. Environmental studies about climate change are sobering, and statistics about the number of stray dogs and cats in the country are sobering too. Things that are sobering make you feel sober, or serious and solemn. The Latin root, sobrius, means "not intoxicated," which is also the original definition of sober.
Vocabulary lists containing sobering
Song of Solomon
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You Call This Democracy?
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I Must Betray You
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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.
Some retail investors, like this videogame aficionado, made a killing, but there are reasons to take a sobering look at AI.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the figure as "sobering".
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
Still, “Time and Water” collapses the notion that we are somehow separate from these ancient, essential formations: an encouraging hello to the future from inside a sobering goodbye.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Ken Burns’s 2025 series “The American Revolution” taught some sobering, complicating lessons about our national foundational myths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
In February, a senior diplomat in the US embassy in Moscow named George Kennan sent a sobering message about the Soviet Union to his superiors in Washington.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
