sobriety means the quality or state of being sober. It carries an Arena rating of 1654, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sobriety ranks #721 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,802 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,136 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,434 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
sobriety is pronounced /səˈbɹaɪ.ɪ.ti/.
Why “sobriety” is a great word
A state of being sober, particularly in abstaining from excess or alcohol, or in maintaining a serious and thoughtful demeanor. From Old French sobriete, from Latin sobrietas, from sobrius ("sober, temperate"), first attested in English in the mid-15th century. Unlike “temperance,” which implies a principled and habitual moderation across all desires, or “solemnity,” which denotes a formal and dignified earnestness, sobriety is the specific condition of clear presence: the cold shock of water at dawn, the unforgiving clarity of a mirror held too close, the deliberate pace of footsteps on frost-hardened ground. It is the self, fully met, in its unvarnished truth.
Etymology
From Old French sobriete, from Latin sobrietas.
noun
- The quality or state of being sober.e.g.“He celebrated five years of sobriety.”
- The quality or state of being sober.; The quality or state of not being intoxicated.
- The quality or state of being sober.; The quality or state of being grave or earnestly thoughtful.
- The quality or state of being sober.; The state or quality of being unhurried; a state of calm.
- The quality or state of being sober.; A state of moderation or seriousness.
- The quality or state of being sober.; Modesty in color or style.
- Soundness of judgment.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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