sophrosyne
Americannoun
Usage
What does sophrosyne mean? Sophrosyne is the virtue of being reasonable and moderate and having self-control. A virtue is a good quality that a person has, like honesty. Sophrosyne is closely associated with Ancient Greek philosophy. It is considered the opposite of hubris, which is excessive pride or arrogance, especially that which clouds judgment. Example: Though some of his initial ideas were unrealistic, he maintained his sophrosyne that prevented him from pitching anything too wild.
Etymology
Origin of sophrosyne
< Greek sōphrosýnē, derivative of sṓphrōn prudent
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.
III. How can we put a person forth to be the nation’s boss, and he Be utterly devoid of any semblance of sophrosyne?
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2016
The virtue on which they insisted was sophrosyne, knowing the limits which nature fixes for human conduct and keeping within them.
From An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law by Roscoe Pound
If the people were saved, it was due to that substratum of sanity, of Greek sophrosyne, which resisted the one and derided the other.
From Old Calabria by Norman Douglas
The qualities necessary to the artist do no harm to those which make the thinker and good citizen—every where, as in the literary laws of ancient Greece, consonance, sophrosyne, moderation.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 373, November 1846 by Various
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.
