sublime
Americanadjective
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elevated or lofty in thought, language, etc.: Paradise Lost is sublime poetry.
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impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration, etc..
Switzerland has sublime scenery.
- Synonyms:
- majestic, imposing, resplendent, gorgeous, grand, august, superb, magnificent
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supreme or outstanding.
a sublime dinner.
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complete; absolute; utter.
sublime stupidity.
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Archaic.
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of lofty bearing.
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Archaic. raised high; high up.
noun
verb (used with object)
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to make higher, nobler, or purer.
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Chemistry.
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to convert (a solid substance) by heat into a vapor, which on cooling condenses again to solid form, without apparent liquefaction.
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to cause to be given off by this or some analogous process.
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verb (used without object)
adjective
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of high moral, aesthetic, intellectual, or spiritual value; noble; exalted
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inspiring deep veneration, awe, or uplifting emotion because of its beauty, nobility, grandeur, or immensity
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unparalleled; supreme
a sublime compliment
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poetic of proud bearing or aspect
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archaic raised up
noun
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something that is sublime
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the ultimate degree or perfect example
the sublime of folly
verb
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(tr) to make higher or purer
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to change or cause to change directly from a solid to a vapour or gas without first melting
to sublime iodine
many mercury salts sublime when heated
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to undergo or cause to undergo this process followed by a reverse change directly from a vapour to a solid
to sublime iodine onto glass
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sublime
First recorded in 1350–1400; (for the noun and adjective) from Latin sublīmis “high,” equivalent to sub- sub- + an element of uncertain origin, variously identified with līmen “lintel, threshold” or līmus “askew, aslant”; (for the verb) ultimately derivative of sublīmis
Explanation
In common use, sublime is an adjective meaning "awe-inspiringly grand, excellent, or impressive," like the best chocolate fudge sundae you've ever had. You might describe a spine-tingling piece of music as "a work of sublime beauty." With the, the word also functions as a noun meaning "something that strikes the mind with a sense of grandeur or power": "Never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery," wrote Washington Irving. The beauty of music or nature can be awe-inspiring, but sublime is also useful for describing everything from an impressive serve in tennis to a jaw-droppingly good taste sensation.
Vocabulary lists containing sublime
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Grade 12, List 1
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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:
It was another reminder of Pogacar’s sublime talent but also his panache.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
In return, he left us a sublime body of work, one that languished in astonishing critical neglect until the mid-19th and early-20th centuries, the result of a dwindling taste for monastic and devotional art.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Kerr didn't just break it, he smashed it by nearly half a second, running a simply sublime three minutes 42.66 seconds.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Having taken a bathroom break before the second set, a re-energised Gauff returned with more aggression, and she eventually found a way past Muchova on her ninth break point with a sublime cross-court backhand winner.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Something else emerges in Mozart, though, beyond the sublime melodies, that Haydn’s music does not anticipate.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The pentachloride sublimes when warmed and forms an equilibrium with the trichloride and chlorine when heated.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Likewise, solid carbon dioxide does not melt at 1 atm pressure but instead sublimes to yield gaseous CO2.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Dry ice does not melt to a liquid but sublimes directly from the solid state to vapor.
From Time Magazine Archive
The rare kindliness of the man so hallows and sublimes his memory that we half forget his artistic power, his purity of touch, his keenness of observation, his delightful and abounding humor.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 80, June, 1864 by Various
Heated in an ignition tube with Na2CO3 metallic mercury sublimes, condensing in the upper portion of the tube in minute globules.
From The Elements of Blowpipe Analysis by Getman, Frederick Hutton
Hydrochloric acid and sulphuretted hydrogen are likewise plentiful, together with many other substances which, sublimed by the high internal temperature, take a solid form on cooling at the surface.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various
This important fact attests the length of time during which chemical processes continue after eruptions, and how open fissures may be filled up laterally by mineral matter, sublimed from volcanic exhalations.
From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir
Above all, his virtues are the virtues which have been sublimed by Christianity—as it were, the cold embers of morality warmed into religion.
From Ten Thousand a-Year. Volume 1. by Warren, Samuel
It was the philosophy of Plato, sublimed and harmonized by the political circumstances of the times.
From The Cradle of the Christ A Study in Primitive Christianity by Frothingham, Octavius Brooks
Look ye that yon frail flower should be sublimed To fruit commensurate with all your power And cunning art?
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 86, December, 1864 by Various
But I believe he is chiefly meditating on the purging and subliming of what he has already done: and repents that he has published at all yet.
From Tennyson's Life and Poetry And Mistakes Concerning Tennyson by Parsons, Eugene
The naphtha removes mostly only the phenanthrene, but the carbazol can be removed only by pyridine, or by subliming or distilling the anthracene over caustic potash.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various
The subliming the mercury is, however, a process injurious to the health.
From Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets by Young, Daniel
That end will not be attained by our authors by subliming Religion into an emotion, and making an armistice with Science.
From Inspiration and Interpretation Seven Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford by Burgon, John William
He gave fairly explicit directions for the preparation, including calcination, boiling, drying, adding sal armoniack, subliming twice.
From Medical Investigation in Seventeenth Century England Papers Read at a Clark Library Seminar, October 14, 1967 by Bodemer, Charles W.
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.
