sophistication
Americannoun
-
sophisticated sophisticated character, ideas, tastes, or ways as the result of education, worldly experience, etc..
the sophistication of the wealthy.
-
change from the natural character or simplicity, or the resulting condition.
-
complexity, as in design or organization.
-
impairment or debasement, as of purity or genuineness.
-
the use of sophistry; a sophism, quibble, or fallacious argument.
Other Word Forms
- antisophistication noun
- hypersophistication noun
- oversophistication noun
- self-sophistication noun
Etymology
Origin of sophistication
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin sophisticātiōn-, stem of sophisticātiō; equivalent to sophisticate + -ion
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.
They comment with equal sophistication on ballet steps, choreography, history, musicology and the minute details of costume design.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Experts say this kind of operation on a senior US government official may not take much sophistication to achieve.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
OpenAI and Anthropic, the two leading AI startups, are racing to sell such technology to the business world, and concerns about the growing sophistication of these tools triggered a stock selloff last month.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
The study's findings suggest the birds are doing more than just tracking the hunters: they're using navigation and spatial memory techniques to scavenge with sophistication.
From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026
Seeing as I had regularly petitioned my parents for an electric fence, the business with the guards strikes me as the last word in quiet sophistication.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
