different between sober vs sedate

English

Etymology

From Old French sobre, from Latin s?brius, from se- (“without”) + ebrius (“intoxicated”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?eg??- (“drink”). In the sense "not drunk," displaced native undrunken, from Old English undruncen.

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?'b?(r), IPA^(key): /?s??.b?(?)/
• Rhymes: -??b?(r)
• Homophone: soba (in non-rhotic accents)

Adjective

sober (comparative soberer, superlative soberest)

1. Not drunk; not intoxicated.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sober

   Antonyms: drunk; see also Thesaurus:drunk

2. Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.

   Synonym: abstemious
3. (figuratively) Moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:moderate, Thesaurus:serious

   • 1680, John Dryden, Ovid's Epistles

     No sober man would put himself into danger for the applause of escaping without breaking his neck.

   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 230d.

     Which is the finest and soberest state possible.

4. (of color) Dull; not bright or colorful.

   Synonyms: muted, subdued
5. Subdued; solemn; grave.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:serious

   • 1717, Alexander Pope, Letter from Edward Blount, Esq.

     See her sober over a sampler, or gay over a jointed baby.
6. (Scotland) Poor; feeble.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

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.

3. To moderate one's feelings.

Translations

Anagrams

• Beros, Boers, Boser, Brose, Serbo-, bores, brose, robes

Danish

Etymology

From French sobre, from Latin sobrius.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -o?b?r

Adjective

sober

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

Inflection

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin s?brius. Doublet of zuiver.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -o?b?r

Adjective

sober (comparative soberder, superlative soberst)

1. simple, plain, austere

Inflection

Synonyms

• eenvoudig

Antonyms

• overdadig

Swedish

Etymology

From French sobre.

Adjective

sober (comparative sobrare, superlative sobrast)

1. moderate
2. stylish, discreetly tasteful

Inflection

References

• sober in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sober in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sober in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

English

Etymology

From Latin sedatus, past participle of sedare (“to settle”), causative of sedere (“to sit”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /s??de?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /s??de?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t

Adjective

sedate (comparative more sedate, superlative most sedate)

1. (of a person or their behaviour) Remaining composed and dignified, and avoiding too much activity or excitement.

   Synonyms: placid, staid, unruffled

   • 1642, Richard Watson, A Sermon Touching Schisme, Cambridge: Roger Daniel, p. 27,^[1]

     […] they will rashly huddle up all together, and not admitting the least check of a sedate judgement, publish onely the impetuous dictates of their indiscreet and too precipitant fancie […]

   • 1715, Alexander Pope (translator), The Iliad: of Homer, London: Bernard Lintott, Book 3, p. 5, lines 87-88,^[2]

     But who like thee can boast a Soul sedate,

     So firmly Proof to all the Shocks of Fate?

   • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Chapter 16,^[3]

     A reel or fling of some sort was in progress; and the usually sedate Farfrae was in the midst of the other dancers in the costume of a wild Highlander, flinging himself about and spinning to the tune.

   • 1989, Hilary Mantel, Fludd, New York: Henry Holt, 2000, Chapter 9, p. 149,^[4]

     Then she saw that they were waving their handkerchiefs; dipping them up and down, with a curiously sedate, formal motion.

2. (of an object, particularly a building) Not overly ornate or showy.
   • 1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography, Penguin, 1942, Chapter 6, p. 194,^[5]

     Sometimes she passed down avenues of sedate mansions, soberly numbered ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, and so on right up to two or three hundred, each the copy of the other, with two pillars and six steps and a pair of curtains neatly drawn […]

   • 1936, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York: Macmillan, 1964, Part 4, Chapter 37,^[6]

     The shiny carriages of Yankee officers’ wives and newly rich Carpetbaggers splashed mud on the dilapidated buggies of the townspeople, and gaudy new homes of wealthy strangers crowded in among the sedate dwellings of older citizens.

   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1986, “Grown Up,” pp. 164-165,^[7]

     Facing the Parliament Buildings across James’ Bay arose a sedate stone and cement Post Office.

   • 1985, Doris Lessing, The Good Terrorist, London: Jonathan Cape, p. 352^[8]

     The great hotel, with its look of sedate luxury, brooded massively there with people teeming about it.

Derived terms

• sedately
• sedateness

Translations

Verb

sedate (third-person singular simple present sedates, present participle sedating, simple past and past participle sedated)

1. To calm or put (a person) to sleep using a sedative drug.

   Synonym: tranquilize

   • 1990, J. M. Coetzee, Age of Iron, New York: Random House, Chapter 2, p. 80,^[9]

     Though he may have been sedated, he knew I was there, knew who I was, knew I was talking to him.

2. To make tranquil.

   Synonyms: calm, soothe, tranquilize

Related terms

• resedate
• sedation
• sedative

Translations

Further reading

• sedate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sedate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• sedate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• e-dates, seated, steade, teades, teased

Italian

Verb

sedate

1. second-person plural present indicative of sedare
2. second-person plural imperative of sedare
3. feminine plural of sedato

Latin

Verb

s?d?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of s?d?

References

• sedate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sedate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sedate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette