sedate means of a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected by activity or excitement. It carries an Arena rating of 1727, earned across 16 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sedate ranks #118 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #2,079 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,310 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #3,384 of 17,130 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
sedate is pronounced /sɪˈdeɪt/.
Why “sedate” is a great word
Calm, dignified, and composed, avoiding excitement; or the act of administering a sedative to induce such a state. From Latin sēdātus ("calm, quiet, composed"), the past participle of sēdō ("to allay, calm, settle"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- ("to sit"). The adjective is first attested in the mid-17th century; the verb slightly later. Unlike "placid," which suggests an innate, undisturbed tranquility, or "solemn," which implies a grave and ritualized seriousness, "sedate" denotes a conscious, cultivated composure. It is the measured gait of a funeral procession, the deliberate arrangement of objects on a well-dusted mantelpiece, the profound quiet of a patient after medicine takes hold—an active stillness, the discipline of remaining seated when everything urges flight.
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English sedate (“not painful or sore”), and directly from its etymon Latin sēdātus (“calm, quiet, composed”), participial adjective from sēdō (“to allay, appease, calm, settle; to end, stop”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”). Compare English -ate (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘characterized by [the thing specified]’).
The verb is partly derived from sēdāt-, a participial stem of sēdō (verb sense 2—“to make (someone or something) calm”; see above), and partly a back-formation from sedation (verb sense 1—“to give (a person) a sedative”) + English -ate (suffix forming verbs). It is first attested slightly later than the adjective.
adj
- Of a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected by activity or excitement.
- Of an object, particularly a building: not overly ornate or showy; not having a strong colour or design.
- Of writing: not emotional; calm, composed.
- Of one's mind, thoughts, etc.: calm, sober.
- Of an object: not moving; at rest, quiet, still; also, moving smoothly and steadily.
verb
- To give (a person) a sedative to calm them or put them to sleep; to tranquilize.e.g.“Though he may have been sedated, he knew I was there, knew who I was, knew I was talking to him.”
- To make (someone or something) calm or tranquil; to assuage, to calm, to soothe.
Words closest in meaning
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