sophisticate

[suh-fis-ti-kit, -keyt, suh-fis-ti-keyt]

noun

1. a sophisticated person.

adjective

1. sophisticated.

verb (used with object)

sophisticated, sophisticating 

1. to make less natural, simple, or ingenuous; make worldly-wise.

2. to alter; pervert.

   to sophisticate a meaning beyond recognition.

verb (used without object)

sophisticated, sophisticating 

1. to use sophistry; quibble.

sophisticate

verb

1. (tr) to make (someone) less natural or innocent, as by education

2. to pervert or corrupt (an argument, etc) by sophistry

3. (tr) to make more complex or refined

4. rare,  to falsify (a text, etc) by alterations

noun

1. a sophisticated person

Other Word Forms

• outsophisticate verb (used with object)
• sophisticator noun
• sophistication noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sophisticate¹

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 ) ( sophistic ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of sophisticate¹

C14: from Medieval Latin sophisticāre, from Latin sophisticus sophistic

Example Sentences

Served either warm or cold, the filling is smooth, sophisticated and a delight.

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It is also introducing a more sophisticated capital management framework, which UBS welcomes, they add.

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AMD will have to deliver on its promise to produce chips that are comparable to Nvidia’s—some of the most sophisticated precision electronics ever designed.

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This would come as China’s shipbuilding and marine engineering systems are growing increasingly sophisticated and dominant External link.

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This would come as China’s shipbuilding and marine engineering systems are growing increasingly sophisticated and dominant External link.

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Related Words

• corrupt 
• degrade 
• pollute