SOBER • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Sober

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/sˈoʊbər/ Listen

adjective

Sober adj. (compar. soberer; superl. soberest)

1.

Temperate in the use of spirituous liquors; habitually temperate; as, a sober man. "That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of Thy holy name."

2.

Not intoxicated or excited by spirituous liquors; as, the sot may at times be sober.

3.

Not mad or insane; not wild, visionary, or heated with passion; exercising cool, dispassionate reason; self-controlled; self-possessed. "There was not a sober person to be had; all was tempestuous and blustering." "No sober man would put himself into danger for the applause of escaping without breaking his neck."

4.

Not proceeding from, or attended with, passion; calm; as, sober judgment; a man in his sober senses.

5.

Serious or subdued in demeanor, habit, appearance, or color; solemn; grave; sedate. "What parts gay France from sober Spain?" "See her sober over a sampler, or gay over a jointed baby." "Twilight gray Had in her sober livery all things clad."

Synonyms: Grave; temperate; abstinent; abstemious; moderate; regular; steady; calm; quiet; cool; collected; dispassionate; unimpassioned; sedate; staid; serious; solemn; somber. See Grave.

verb

Sober v. t. (past & past part. sobered; pres. part. sobering) To make sober. "There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again."

Sober v. i. To become sober; often with down. "Vance gradually sobered down."

See images of 'Sober'

Etymology of 'Sober'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sober" Quotes from Famous Books

... well enough that thou mightest be trusted when thou wer't sober, Bill," his wife said gently; "but as about four nights a week at that time thou wast drunk, and might ha' blabbed it out, and had known nowt in the morning o' what thou'dst said, Jack and I were of a mind that less said ...

— Facing Death - The Hero of the Vaughan Pit. A Tale of the Coal Mines • G. A. Henty

... a laugh at the tragic tone in which she said it. Yet his face was perfectly sober and he continued with his breakfast without ...

— The Pony Rider Boys in Montana • Frank Gee Patchin

... not innocent of one of them. General Miller offered to present us at court, but he had to give several days' notice in order that his Majesty might be sufficiently sober to receive us. A negro tailor from the United States fitted us out with suits of black, and on the appointed day we put ourselves under the shade of the old General's cocked hat, and marched in a body to the palace. A native band, in which a big drum had the leading part, received ...

— Tracks of a Rolling Stone • Henry J. Coke

... foreboding held him back. A sour and vacuous incredulity swept over him. What was the use of all this struggling and vexation. What gain in living on? Once dead his sluggish spirit at least would find its rest. Dust to dust it would indeed be for him. What else, in sober earnest, had he been all his daily stolid life but half dead, scarce conscious, without a living thought, or desire, in ...

— The Return • Walter de la Mare

... lurked. It was a reputable place enough, affording good entertainment in the way of meat, drink, and fumigation; and there, in my young and idle days and nights, when I was neither nice nor wise, I had often amused myself with watching the staid humors and sober jollities of the ...

— The Blithedale Romance • Nathaniel Hawthorne

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