sober
- not intoxicated or drunk.
- habitually temperate, especially in the use of liquor.
- quiet or sedate in demeanor, as persons.
- marked by seriousness, gravity, solemnity, etc., as of demeanor, speech, etc.: a sober occasion.
- 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.
- to make or become sober: (often followed by up).
Origin of sober
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Related Words
dim, mitigate, dampen, temper, restrain, soften, modulate, cloud, darken, deepen, reduce, shade, sober, soft-pedal, subdueExamples from the Web for sobers
Contemporary Examples
Liz hides in a closet and then locks Burton in a cabin until he sobers up.
Historical Examples
This fever will cure him, they say it sobers like bloodletting.
Beauchamp's Career, CompleteGeorge Meredith
They often come for a warm soda in the morning, it sobers them.
'I Believe' and other essaysCyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull
We have our sobers and our drunks, our Hardy and our Belloc, and Chesterton.
We'll beat it right off, an' I hope to gosh Joe sobers up on the way!
The Professor's MysteryWells Hastings
I can hardly believe it, but we'll see what can be got from the man when he sobers up.
Trumpeter FredCharles King
Sobers
- Sir Garfield St Auburn, known as Garry. born 1936, West Indian (Barbadian) cricketer: an all-rounder, he played in 93 test matches (1954–74), 39 as captain, scoring 8,032 runs and taking 235 wickets; first man (1968) to score six sixes in a single over in first-class cricket
sober
- not drunk
- not given to excessive indulgence in drink or any other activity
- sedate and rationala sober attitude to a problem
- (of colours) plain and dull or subdued
- free from exaggeration or speculationhe told us the sober truth
- (usually foll by up) to make or become less intoxicated, reckless, etc
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for sobers
sober
adj.
mid-14c., "moderate in desires or actions, temperate, restrained," especially "abstaining from strong drink," also "calm, quiet, not overcome by emotion," from Old French sobre "decent; sober" (12c.), from Latin sobrius "not drunk, temperate, moderate, sensible," from a variant of se- "without" (see se-) + ebrius "drunk," of unknown origin. Meaning "not drunk at the moment" is from late 14c.; also "appropriately solemn, serious, not giddy." Related: Soberly; soberness. Sobersides "sedate, serious-minded person" is recorded from 1705.
sober
v.
late 14c., "reduce to a quiet condition" (transitive), from sober (adj.). Meaning "render grave or serious" is from 1726. Intransitive sense of "become sober" (since late 19c. often with up) is from 1820. Related: Sobered; sobering.