soporific
Americanadjective
-
causing or tending to cause sleep.
-
pertaining to or characterized by sleep or sleepiness; sleepy; drowsy.
noun
-
soporifics
plural
adjective
-
inducing sleep
-
drowsy; sleepy
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of soporific
1655–65; < Latin sopor sopor + -i- + -fic; compare French soporifique
Explanation
Something that is soporific is sleep-inducing. Certain medicines, but also extreme coziness, can have a soporific effect. In the 1680’s, soporific, which doubles as both adjective and noun, was formed from the French soporifique. That word, in turn, came from the Latin sopor “deep sleep.” Beloved Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter once noted that, “It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific'."
Vocabulary lists containing soporific
Jane Eyre
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 6
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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.
See Examples For:
Monaco has become notorious in recent years for soporific races in which the leader controls the pace from the front in an attempt to secure the victory knowing that overtaking is almost impossible.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
In the soporific Irish midlands, Marty Hawkins is reminded that “fields breed fatalism,” which suits his mood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
Shimizu is an exploratory jazz musician who has of late gained popularity for his television scores and inoffensively ambient music that employs soporific electronics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
It’s so effective a soporific that most nights I struggle to read for more than 10 minutes, which is both satisfying and maddening.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2024
His eyes did not leave the patrons face while his velvet voice rose passionately above the soporific air of the siesta.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Exposure to sunlight prevents the brain from producing melatonin and other natural soporifics.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 23, 2016
It surely ought to work for those viewers lulled these many years by cinema soporifics.
From Time Magazine Archive
Kennedy unemotionally traced the misconceptions and the soporifics that lulled England during the prewar years.
From Time Magazine Archive
Many of the antihistamines, intended to relieve allergies, are also prescribed as soporifics.
From Time Magazine Archive
Alice gave signs of an inclination to doze; she had had a sleepless night, in spite of soporifics.
From The Odd Women by George Gissing
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.
