sober
verb · adjective
Simple meaning
Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sohberSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsoʊbɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Become sober after excessive alcohol consumption
“Keep him in bed until he sobers up.”
often with up
To make or become sober.
Cause to become sober
To moderate one's feelings; to accept a disappointing reality after losing one's ability to believe in a fantastic goal.
often with up
To overcome or lose a state of intoxication.
adjective
Not affected by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.
figurative
Moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled.
Not drunk; not intoxicated.
Not under the influence of any recreational drug.
Subdued; solemn; grave.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
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More ways to use sober
- “Keep him in bed until he sobers up.”verb
- “After thinking about the potential consequences of his plan, he sobered up.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Become sober after excessive alcohol consumption.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: not affected by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.