sober

See also sõber

English

Etymology

From Old French sobre, from Latin sobrius ("without wine"), from se- (“without”) + ebrius ("intoxicated"), of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sō'bə(r), IPA: /ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)/, SAMPA: /"s@Ub@(r\)/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -əʊbə(r)

Adjective

sober (comparative soberer, superlative soberest)

1. not drunk; not intoxicated
2. not given to excessive drinking of alcohol;
3. in character; moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 230d.

     Which is the finest and soberest state possible.

4. dull; not bright or colorful;

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:sober
• See also Wikisaurus:serious
• See also Wikisaurus:moderate

Antonyms

• (not drunk): drunk

Related terms

• sobriety
• sober as a judge

Translations

not drunk

Armenian: սթափ (hy) (st’ap’) Chinese: Mandarin: 清醒 (zh) (qīngxǐng), 冷靜 (zh), 冷静 (zh) (lěngjìng) Czech: střízlivý (cs) m. Danish: ædru (da) Finnish: selvinpäin (fi), raitis (fi) French: sobre (fr) German: nüchtern (de) Greek: νηφάλιος (el) (nifálios) m. Hungarian: józan (hu)

Japanese: シラフ (ja) (shirafu) Luxembourgish: eniichter (lb) Norwegian: edru (no) Polish: trzeźwy m., trzeźwa f., trzeźwe n. Portuguese: sóbrio (pt) Russian: трезвый (ru) (trézvyj) Scottish Gaelic: sòbair (gd), stuama (gd) Spanish: sobrio (es), sereno (es) Swedish: nykter (sv)

not given to excessive drinking of alcohol

Danish: ædruelig (da) Finnish: raitis (fi) French: sobre (fr)

Greek: εγκρατής (el) (egkratís) m. Portuguese: sóbrio (pt) Scottish Gaelic: sòbair (gd), stuama (gd)

moderate

Czech: střízlivý (cs) m. Danish: sober (da) Finnish: hillitty (fi) French: sobre (fr) German: besonnen (de), ernst (de)

Greek: νηφάλιος (el) (nifálios) m., μετρημένος (el) (metriménos) m. Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (majime) Portuguese: sóbrio (pt) Russian: умеренный (umérennyj) Scottish Gaelic: stuama (gd)

dull

Finnish: hillitty (fi) French: sobre (fr) German: gedeckt (of colours)

Portuguese: sóbrio (pt) Russian: тусклый (ru) (túsklyj) Turkish: hüşyar, mutedil, uyanık dikkatli

See also

• teetotaller

Verb

sober (third-person singular simple present sobers, present participle sobering, simple past and past participle sobered)

1. (often with up) To make or become sober.
2. (often with up) To overcome or lose a state of intoxication.

   It took him hours to sober up.

Translations

make or become sober

German: ernüchtern (de) Japanese: 酔いを醒ます (ja) (yoi wo samasu)

Swedish: nyktra (sv), nyktra till (sv)

overcome intoxication

French: cuver (fr) German: ausnüchtern

Swedish: nyktra (sv), nyktra till (sv)

Anagrams

• Boers, bores, Brose, brose, robes

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Danish

Etymology

From French sobre, from Latin sobrius.

Adjective

sober (neuter sobert, definite and plural sobre, comparative sobrere, superlative sobrest)

1. sober (in character; moderate; realistic; serious)

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Dutch

Adjective

sober (comparative soberder, superlative soberst)

1. simple, plain, austere

Declension

Declension of sober

		positive	comparative	superlative
				attributive	predicative/adverbial
predicative/adverbial		sober	soberder
neuter singular	indefinite	sober	soberder
	definite	sobere	soberdere	soberste	het soberst(e)
common singular		sobere	soberdere	soberste	de soberste
plural		sobere	soberdere	soberste	de soberste
partitive		sobers	soberders

Synonyms

• eenvoudig

Antonyms

• overdadig