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sober

adj
/ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)//ˈsoʊ.bɚ/US

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius, from se- (“without”) + ebrius (“intoxicated”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁egʷʰ- (“drink”). In the sense "not drunk," displaced native undrunken, from Old English undruncen.

  1. derived from *h₁egʷʰ-✻
  2. derived from sōbrius
  3. derived from sobre
  4. inherited from sober

Definitions

  1. Not drunk

    Not drunk; not intoxicated.

  2. Not under the influence of any recreational drug.

    • Ten months sober, I must admit Just because you're clean, don't mean you don't miss it

  3. Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.

    • Amid all the confusion and disorder that sin has introduced into the world, the Christian in union with God has a grace or Divine help that enables him to live the sober, self-restrained life.
    • After eliminating alcohol from their lives, some sober individuals exclusively date nondrinkers.
    • Rose told me that she's sober.
  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. Moderate

      Moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled.

      • God help me to watch and to be sober.
      • [N]o ſober man vvould put himſelf into a danger for the Applauſe of ſcaping vvithout breaking his Neck.
      • Which is the finest and soberest state possible.

    2. Dull

      Dull; not bright or colorful.

      • Twilight grey / Had in her sober livery all things clad.

    3. Subdued

      Subdued; solemn; grave.

      • See her sober over a sampler, or gay over a jointed baby.
      • What parts gay France from sober Spain? A little rising rocky chain.

    4. Poor

      Poor; feeble.

    5. To make or become sober.

      • There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, / And drinking largely sobers us again.
      • The night air may have sobered him a bit by the time they got back to Beattock.

    6. To overcome or lose a state of intoxication.

      • It took him hours to sober up.

    7. To moderate one's feelings

      To moderate one's feelings; to accept a disappointing reality after losing one's ability to believe in a fantastic goal.

      • Losing his job was a sobering experience.

    8. A surname.

The neighborhood

Derived

appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober, California sober, cold sober, draw a sober breath, drunk words are sober thoughts, ensober, insober, sober as a judge, sober-curious, sober down, soberer, sober house, soberize, sober living house, soberly, soberness, sobersided, sobersides, sober space, sober up, soberversary, stone-cold sober, unsober, wanton kittens make sober cats, unsobered

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at sober. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01sober02excessive03immoderate04moderate05mild06gentle07severe

A definitional loop anchored at sober. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at sober

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA