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sophisticate

verb
/səˈfɪstɪkeɪt/US/səˈfɪstɪkət/US

Etymology

From Middle English sophisticaten (“to mix (something) with a foreign or inferior substance, adulterate”), from Medieval Latin sophisticātus, the perfect passive participle of sophisticāre (“to disguise; to tamper with; to trick using words”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more). Sophisticāre is derived from Latin sophisticus (“pertaining to the ancient Sophists, sophistic; pertaining to sophistry, sophistic, sophistical”) (from Ancient Greek σοφιστικός (sophistikós), from σοφιστής (sophistḗs, “master of a craft; prudent or wise person; philosopher; teacher, tutor; (derogatory) one who profits from false wisdom, cheat, swindler”), from σοφός (sophós, “able, skilful; clever, intelligent, prudent, wise; cunning”), further etymology unknown) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). Cognates * French sophistiquer * Italian sofisticare * Spanish sofisticar

  1. derived from σοφιστικός
  2. derived from sophisticus — “pertaining to the ancient Sophists, sophistic; pertaining to sophistry, sophistic, sophistical”
  3. derived from sophisticātus
  4. inherited from sophisticaten — “to mix (something) with a foreign or inferior substance, adulterate”

Definitions

  1. To make (something) less innocent or natural

    To make (something) less innocent or natural; to artificialize.

    • The party to which Mrs. Berlinton was the loadſtone, was far more attractive to the diſciples of nature, though leſs ſedulouſly ſought by thoſe whom the manners and maxims of the common world had ſophiſticated.
    • She was no scion of the English houses of Brown, Jones, or Robinson, born and bred in a London back slum, and christened plain Sarah or Mary, to be sophisticated later into Celestine or Mariette.

  2. To make (something) more sophisticated (“complex, developed, or refined”)

    To make (something) more sophisticated (“complex, developed, or refined”); to develop, to refine.

  3. To make (oneself or someone) more sophisticated (“experienced in the ways of the world,…

    To make (oneself or someone) more sophisticated (“experienced in the ways of the world, that is, cosmopolitan or worldly-wise”); to cosmopolitanize.

  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. To alter and make impure (something) by mixing it with some foreign or inferior…

      To alter and make impure (something) by mixing it with some foreign or inferior substance, especially with an intention to deceive; to adulterate; (generally) to corrupt or deceive (someone, their thinking, etc.).

      • How be it, it were harde to construe this lecture; Sophisticatid craftely is many a confecture; […]
      • This is my friend, Abel, an honeſt fellow, He let me haue good Tobacco, and he do's not Sophiſticate it, with Sack-lees, or Oyle, […]

    2. To change the meaning of (something) in a deceptive or misleading way.

      • The heavy hand of the high Thunderer Shall light on thee; and thou I doubt ſhalt be His Furies object, and ſhalt teſtifie By thine infamous lifes accurſed ſtate, VVhat now thy ſhame-leſs lips ſophiſticate.

    3. To apply an artificial technique to (something).

      • [T]hey ſit in ſome ſun-ſhining place in a chamber or ſome other ſecret roome, where hauing a looking-glaſſe before them they ſophiſticate and dye their haire with the foreſaid drugs, […]

    4. To practise sophistry (“the (deliberate) making of arguments that seem plausible but are…

      To practise sophistry (“the (deliberate) making of arguments that seem plausible but are fallacious or misleading”).

      • The benevolence of her heart taught her, in this inſtance, to ſophiſticate.
      • Yet [Joseph] Butler professes to stick to plain facts, not to sophisticate, not to refine.

    5. Synonym of sophisticated (adjective).

    6. A person who is sophisticated (“experienced in the ways of the world, that is,…

      A person who is sophisticated (“experienced in the ways of the world, that is, cosmopolitan or worldly-wise”), or who has sophisticated tastes.

      • Patrick Star: Because classy sophisticates like us should not stain our lips with cursing. SpongeBob SquarePants: Yea verily!

The neighborhood

Derived

desophisticate, outsophisticate, sophisticated, sophisticated falsificationism, sophisticatedly, sophisticatedness, sophisticating, sophisticative, sophisticator, unsophisticate

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for sophisticate. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

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