sublimate

[verb suhb-luh-meyt; noun, adjective suhb-luh-mit, -meyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sublimate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), sub·li·mat·ed, sub·li·mat·ing.

Psychology. to divert the energy of (a sexual or other biological impulse) from its immediate goal to one of a more acceptable social, moral, or aesthetic nature or use.

Chemistry.

to sublime (a solid substance); extract by this process.
to refine or purify (a substance).

to make nobler or purer: To read about great men sublimates ambition.

verb (used without object), sub·li·mat·ed, sub·li·mat·ing.

to become sublimated; undergo sublimation.

noun

Chemistry. the crystals, deposit, or material obtained when a substance is sublimated.

adjective

purified or exalted; sublimated.

Origin of sublimate

1425–75; late Middle English: exalted, sublimated < Latin sublīmātus (past participle of sublīmāre to elevate), equivalent to sublīm(is) sublime + -ātus -ate¹

Related formssub·li·ma·ble

[suhb-luh-muh-buh l] /ˈsʌb lə mə bəl/, adjectivesub·li·ma·ble·ness, nounsub·li·ma·tion, nounde·sub·li·mate, verb (used with object), de·sub·li·mat·ed, de·sub·li·mat·ing.re·sub·li·mate, verb (used with object), re·sub·li·mat·ed, re·sub·li·mat·ing.su·per·sub·li·mat·ed, adjectiveun·sub·li·mat·ed, adjective

Can be confusedsublimate sublime

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sublimate

repress, uphold, cleanse, rarefy, clean, refine, transfer, suppress, redirect

Examples from the Web for sublimate

Historical Examples of sublimate

Now that they're out of their force field, they'll start to sublimate.
Millennium
Everett B. Cole
It readily furnishes a sublimate at 100°, partially decomposing.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection
Alexander Wynter Blyth
Boil them in a glass bottel till the sublimate be dissolved.
A History of Epidemics in Britain (Volume I of II)
Charles Creighton
We must sublimate it, grind it down, hammer it out into a useful pattern.
Exploiter's End
James Causey
In this there will always be a little of the sublimate left on the bottom of the jar.
Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting
William T. Hornaday

British Dictionary definitions for sublimate

sublimate

verb

psychol to direct the energy of (a primitive impulse, esp a sexual one) into activities that are considered to be socially more acceptable

(tr) to make purer; refine

noun

chem the material obtained when a substance is sublimed

adjective

exalted or purified

Derived Formssublimable (ˈsʌbləməbəl), adjective

Word Origin for sublimate

C16: from Latin sublīmāre to elevate, from sublīmis lofty; see sublime

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

Word Origin and History for sublimate

1560s, from Latin sublimatus, past participle of sublimare (see sublimation). Related: Sublimated; sublimating.

sublimate in Medicine

sublimate

[sŭb′lə-māt′]

v.

To transform directly from the solid to the gaseous state or from the gaseous to the solid state without becoming a liquid.

To modify the natural expression of an instinctual impulse, especially a sexual one, in a socially acceptable manner.