sobering

[soh-ber-ing] / ˈsoʊ bər ɪŋ /

ADJECTIVE

serious

Synonyms

STRONGEST

dangerous deep difficult far-reaching grievous important major meaningful severe significant tough urgent

WEAK

arduous fateful fell formidable grave grim hard heavy laborious meaning business menacing momentous no joke no laughing matter of consequence operose out for blood playing hard ball pressing smoking strenuous strictly business threatening ugly unamusing unhumorous worrying

Antonyms

STRONGEST

calm easy facile friendly insignificant little meaningless minor small trivial unimportant worthless

WEAK

flippant funny happy light unserious

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The sight of Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Tonali all leaving the club in the space of less than a year is sobering.

From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026

Some retail investors, like this videogame aficionado, made a killing, but there are reasons to take a sobering look at AI.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026

Still, “Time and Water” collapses the notion that we are somehow separate from these ancient, essential formations: an encouraging hello to the future from inside a sobering goodbye.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

Ken Burns’s 2025 series “The American Revolution” taught some sobering, complicating lessons about our national foundational myths.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Information is so powerful that the assumption of information, even if the information does not actually exist, can have a sobering effect.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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