sober. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

sober

SYLLABICATION:	so·ber
PRONUNCIATION:	sbr
ADJECTIVE:	Inflected forms: so·ber·er, so·ber·est 1. Habitually abstemious in the use of alcoholic liquors or drugs; temperate. 2. Not intoxicated or affected by the use of drugs. 3. Plain or subdued: sober attire. 4. Devoid of frivolity, excess, exaggeration, or speculative imagination; straightforward: gave a sober assessment of the situation. 5. Marked by seriousness, gravity, or solemnity of conduct or character. See synonyms at serious. 6. Marked by circumspection and self-restraint.
TRANSITIVE & INTRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: so·bered, so·ber·ing, so·bers To make or become sober.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English, from Old French sobre, from Latin sbrius. See s(w)e- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	sober·ly —ADVERB sober·ness —NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.