soporific

[ sop-uh-rif-ik, soh-puh- ]
See synonyms for: soporificsoporifics on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. causing or tending to cause sleep.

  2. pertaining to or characterized by sleep or sleepiness; sleepy; drowsy.

noun
  1. something that causes sleep, as a medicine or drug.

Origin of soporific

1
1655–65; <Latin soporsopor + -i- + -fic; compare French soporifique

Other words from soporific

  • sop·o·rif·i·cal·ly, adverb
  • an·ti·sop·o·rif·ic, adjective, noun
  • non·sop·or·if·ic, adjective, noun
  • un·sop·o·rif·ic, adjective

Words Nearby soporific

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use soporific in a sentence

  • The premise is this: turkey is chock-full of a soporific essential amino acid, tryptophan, one of the 22 essential amino acids.

  • To whom the prophetess, seeing his neck now bristle with horrid snakes, flings a soporific cake of honey and medicated grain.

    The Fatal Dowry | Philip Massinger
  • There is nothing oratorical in his style of delivery; it is calm, slow, and has a rather soporific influence upon his hearers.

  • From which it appears evident that the actual words used as a soporific allow considerable latitude of choice.

    Spirit and Music | H. Ernest Hunt
  • I sit dreaming, the rhythmical song and the splashing of the oars exercising a soporific effect.

  • The odor of a smouldering bough of balsam-fir hung in the air—warm, spicy, soporific.

    The Doomsman | Van Tassel Sutphen

British Dictionary definitions for soporific

soporific

/ (ˌsɒpəˈrɪfɪk) /


adjectiveAlso: archaic soporiferous
  1. inducing sleep

  2. drowsy; sleepy

noun
  1. a drug or other agent that induces sleep

Derived forms of soporific

  • soporifically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012