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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sober.

Not drunk; not intoxicated.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)//ˈsoʊ.bɚ/General-American
  1. Not drunk; not intoxicated.

  2. Not under the influence of any recreational drug.

  3. Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.

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

    figuratively
  5. Dull; not bright or colorful.

  6. Subdued; solemn; grave.

  7. Poor; feeble.

    Scotland
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)//ˈsoʊ.bɚ/General-American
  1. To make or become sober.

    often · with-up
    His expression sobered.
  2. To overcome or lose a state of intoxication.

    often · with-up
    It took him hours to sober up.
  3. 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.
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.