sublimate

American  

[suhb-luh-meyt, suhb-luh-mit, -meyt] / ˈsʌb ləˌmeɪt, ˈsʌb lə mɪt, -ˌmeɪt /

verb (used with object)

sublimated, sublimating

1. 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.

2. Chemistry.

   1. to sublime (a solid substance); extract by this process.

   2. to refine or purify (a substance).

3. to make nobler or purer.

   To read about great men sublimates ambition.

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verb (used without object)

sublimated, sublimating

1. to become sublimated; undergo sublimation.

noun

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

adjective

1. purified or exalted; sublimated.

sublimate British  

/ ˈsʌblɪˌmeɪt, ˈsʌbləməbəl /

verb

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

2. (tr) to make purer; refine

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noun

1. chem the material obtained when a substance is sublimed

adjective

1. exalted or purified

Other Word Forms

• desublimate verb (used with object)
• resublimate verb (used with object)
• sublimable adjective
• sublimableness noun
• sublimation noun
• supersublimated adjective
• unsublimated adjective

Etymology

Origin of sublimate

1425–75; late Middle English: exalted, sublimated < Latin sublīmātus (past participle of sublīmāre to elevate), equivalent to sublīm ( is ) sublime + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

When you're at a lecture and you feel restless, you've got to sublimate the desire to move around. That means you force the desire to be more subtle so you can continue listening — even if you don't want to. Psychologists use the verb sublimate to describe the process of channeling intense energy into something useful or appropriate. Freud sublimated his desire to live at home with his mother, and he moved into his own apartment. Sublimate is related to the word sublime — both words come from the Latin word sublimare, which means "to raise up" or "to exalt." So Freud's finally getting his own place is, arguably, a superior — a more exalted — living situation.

Example Sentences

It almost feels like some kind of test, where you are forced to sublimate your wishes and, perhaps, your self respect.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026

Gerwig is no less movingly misguided as Babette, who — like her husband, but through more extreme measures — tries to sublimate fears, both rational and irrational, of impending doom.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2022

Halloween may be over, but if you ask me carving a gourd still seems like a good way to sublimate creeping dread.

From Slate • Nov. 4, 2022

Dexter, too, has taught himself to sublimate his more extreme impulses; the parallels can seem uncomfortably apt.

From New York Times • Nov. 2, 2021

There is nothing in medical books like it, except the pain that follows corrosive sublimate which burns the tissues.

From The Eulogy of Richard Jefferies by Besant, Walter, Sir

Related Words

• repress