sophisticated
Americanadjective
-
(of a person, ideas, tastes, manners, etc.) altered by education, experience, etc., so as to be worldly-wise; not naive.
a sophisticated young socialite;
the sophisticated eye of an experienced journalist.
- Synonyms:
- cultivated, experienced, cosmopolitan, worldly
- Antonyms:
- naive
-
pleasing or satisfactory to the tastes of sophisticates, or people who are educated, cultured, and worldly-wise.
sophisticated music.
-
deceptive; misleading.
-
complex or intricate, as a system, process, piece of machinery, or the like.
a sophisticated electronic control system.
-
of, for, or reflecting educated taste, knowledgeable use, etc..
Many Americans are drinking more sophisticated wines now.
adjective
-
having refined or cultured tastes and habits
-
appealing to sophisticates
a sophisticated restaurant
-
unduly refined or cultured
-
pretentiously or superficially wise
-
(of machines, methods, etc) complex and refined
Other Word Forms
- hypersophisticated adjective
- hypersophisticatedly adverb
- oversophisticated adjective
- sophisticatedly adverb
- supersophisticated adjective
- ultrasophisticated adjective
- ultrasophisticatedly adverb
Etymology
Origin of sophisticated
First recorded in 1595–1605; sophisticate + -ed 2
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.
A slower and less sophisticated version of “Blow My Mind” came out in 2002, while “Sucker for Love” was written with Norwegian duo Röyksopp in sessions for their 2014 collaborative EP.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Back then, investors were worried about a Chinese artificial-intelligence startup that said it was able to train a sophisticated AI model with far less compute than what other developers seemed to require.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026
"Their track record for building and operating technologically sophisticated live performance venues is unrivaled."
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
The deal would add firepower to Reflection, which is central to Nvidia’s efforts to create an open-source ecosystem that can run on its chips and counter the growing and increasingly sophisticated offerings in China.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Here are some figures, in thousands, for the production of individual copies of printed books: of necessity, they are merely sophisticated estimates.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
