sobriquet
Americannoun
-
sobriquets
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sobriquet
First recorded in 1640–50; origin uncertain; from French Middle French soubriquet “nickname, surname,” formerly also “a jest,” from Old French soubriquet, soubzbriquet “a gentle tap under the chin, a chuck under the chin”
Explanation
If people start calling you "Mac" because you like to eat macaroni and cheese for every meal, then you not only have a strange diet, but you also have a sobriquet — in other words, a nickname. Sobriquet is derived from the French word soubriquet. Sobriquets are often but not always humorous, so in order to pronounce this word, you might want to remember that the last syllable rhymes with play. Sobriquets are usually given to you by other people, but you can choose one for yourself if you want. If your name is Jennifer and you tend to introduce yourself as Jen, this also qualifies as a sobriquet.
Vocabulary lists containing sobriquet
Freak the Mighty
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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The Fault in Our Stars
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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:
And though Slater earned the sobriquet “Slater the Traitor” back home, he never returned to Britain to face the consequences.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
The metro area’s population is booming and financial-services firms are flocking here, earning the area the sobriquet “Y’all Street.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
The bird, in an inevitable shorthand created by the press, was given the sobriquet "Goldie", as he became headline news.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2025
However it's defined, though, the idea of distinct sleeping arrangements, also known by the doom-laden sobriquet "sleep divorce," sounds like a marital death knell.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
When Tisquantum approached the Pilgrims and identified himself by that sobriquet, it was as if he had stuck out his hand and said, Hello, I’m the Wrath of God.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Both sobriquets stem from Ludwig’s penchant for building gargantuan displays of excess at a clip that placed him in massive debt.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025
Here I could follow the example of Jeff Loveness’ script and spend half this review writing suggestively around the bad guy’s identity, using ominous sub-Voldemort sobriquets like “He” and “Him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
Galella amassed millions of images in a career that began in the 1960s, earning sobriquets like the “paparazzo extraordinaire” for his up-close, candid shots of the rich and famous.
From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2022
Richard Johnson of the Page Six gossip column often has tarred her with sobriquets like “the pushy publicist” or “perpetually petulant publicist.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 13, 2016
Winfrithing, though it is a case in which I do not feel much certainty, finding one or two other such names as Turnpenny, which may have been sobriquets.
From Surnames as a Science by Robert Ferguson
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.
