sobriety

so·bri·ety

noun \sə-ˈbrī-ə-tē, sō-\

: the state of not being drunk

: the quality of being serious

Full Definition of SOBRIETY

:  the quality or state of being sober

Examples of SOBRIETY

1. They did a sobriety test on him.
2. the sobriety of the situation

Origin of SOBRIETY

Middle English sobrete, from Anglo-French sobreté, from Latin sobrietat-, sobrietas, from sobrius

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to SOBRIETY

Synonyms

earnest, graveness, gravity, intentness, serious-mindedness, seriousness, soberness, earnestness, solemnity, solemnness, staidness

Antonyms

facetiousness, flightiness, flippancy, frivolity, frivolousness, levity, lightheartedness, lightness, play, unseriousness

Related Words

gravitas, humorlessness; decisiveness, deliberation, determination, firmness, purposefulness, resoluteness, resolve; absorption, attentiveness, concentration, engrossment, enthrallment, immersion, intensity

Near Antonyms

lightness, shallowness, superficiality; dalliance, dilettantism; cheerfulness, gaiety (also gayety), glee, high-spiritedness, merriment, mirth

Rhymes with SOBRIETY

anxiety, impiety, nimiety, propriety, society, variety