soporific
Americanadjective
-
causing or tending to cause sleep.
-
pertaining to or characterized by sleep or sleepiness; sleepy; drowsy.
noun
adjective
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inducing sleep
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drowsy; sleepy
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
Soporific was a fair adjective to characterise the game as the interval neared.
From The Guardian • Aug. 5, 2020
Said he: "It seemed to be more like South Soporific."
From Time Magazine Archive
Soporific, sō-pō-rif′ik, adj. making or causing sleep.—n. anything that causes sleep.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) 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.
