sophisticate

[ noun, adjective suh-fis-ti-kit, -keyt; verb suh-fis-ti-keyt ]

See synonyms for: sophisticate sophisticated on Thesaurus.com

noun

a sophisticated person.

adjective

sophisticated.

verb (used with object),so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing.

to make less natural, simple, or ingenuous; make worldly-wise.
to alter; pervert: to sophisticate a meaning beyond recognition.

verb (used without object),so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing.

to use sophistry; quibble.

Origin of sophisticate

1350–1400; Middle English (adj. and v.) <Medieval Latin sophisticātus (past participle of sophisticāre to tamper with, disguise, trick with words), equivalent to Latin sophistic(us) (see sophistic) + -ātus-ate¹

Other words from sophisticate

out·so·phis·ti·cate, verb (used with object), out·so·phis·ti·cat·ed, out·so·phis·ti·cat·ing.

Words Nearby sophisticate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sophisticate in a sentence

The vertigo your coastal sophisticate might get from perusing 1791.
Glenn Beck Is Now Selling Hipster Clothes. Really. | Ana Marie Cox | December 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Here we are in 1970s New York City, with a certain kind of sophisticate; someone must be wearing checked pants.
Renata Adler, Poet of a Chaotic Generation | Jen Vafidis | March 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The collection shows the princess's evolution from Sloane Ranger to sleek sophisticate.
VIDEO: Diana's Dresses Up For Sale | Tom Sykes | March 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
A great mind can neither sophisticate nor suppress its earnest convictions.
What was the Religion of Shakespeare? | M. M. Mangasarian
Ours is continually the task to civilize, to sophisticate, to refine this raw material.
Craftsmanship in Teaching | William Chandler Bagley

As far as Clavering could see, she had every intention of making a sophisticate night of it.
Black Oxen | Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
He must needs try to sophisticate us by talking about "the doings of the gods."
Nineteenth Century Questions | James Freeman Clarke
Ale was originally made from barley-malt and yeast alone, and those who put in anything else were held to sophisticate the liquor.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for sophisticate

sophisticate

verb(səˈfɪstɪˌkeɪt)

(tr) to make (someone) less natural or innocent, as by education
to pervert or corrupt (an argument, etc) by sophistry

(tr) to make more complex or refined
rare to falsify (a text, etc) by alterations

noun(səˈfɪstɪˌkeɪt, -kɪt)

a sophisticated person

Origin of sophisticate

C14: from Medieval Latin sophisticāre, from Latin sophisticus sophistic

Derived forms of sophisticate

sophistication, noun
sophisticator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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