soporific

1 of 2

adjective

sop·​o·​rif·​ic ˌsä-pə-ˈri-fik How to pronounce soporific (audio)
1
a
: causing or tending to cause sleep
soporific drugs
b
: tending to dull awareness or alertness
2
: of, relating to, or marked by sleepiness or lethargy

soporific

2 of 2

noun

: a soporific agent
specifically : hypnotic sense 1

Did you know?

Soporific comes from Latin sopor, which means "deep sleep." That root is related to somnus, the Latin word for "sleep." Despite its meaning, somnus has been active, giving English somnolence (sleepiness), somnambulism (sleepwalking), and many other "sleepy" words.

Examples of soporific in a Sentence

Adjective the soporific heat of summer this medication is soporific, so do not drive after taking it
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Une Chambre à Soi in Château La Coste’s Richard Rogers gallery is inspired by Virginia Woolfe’s extended essay A Room of One’s Own and features more than fifteen artists visualising a soporific journey from sunset to sunrise. Lee Sharrock, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024 But now there's something distinctly soporific about it all, and certainly not the kind of writing Capote himself would have wanted associated with his name. Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 25 June 2024
Noun
Despite the vicious—and mostly ineffective—GOP attacks on Biden’s mental acuity, the former vice president gave listeners a level of detail Thursday night that bordered on the soporific. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 15 Oct. 2020 The filmmakers hit the reset button again, to find new conflict-laden places to go, new soporific curses to do. BostonGlobe.com, 17 Oct. 2019 See all Example Sentences for soporific 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'soporific.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

probably from French soporifique, from Latin sopor deep sleep; akin to Latin somnus sleep — more at somnolent

First Known Use

Adjective

1665, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

circa 1727, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of soporific was in 1665

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Cite this Entry

“Soporific.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soporific. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Medical Definition

soporific

1 of 2 adjective
so·​po·​rif·​ic -ˈrif-ik How to pronounce soporific (audio)
: causing or tending to cause sleep

soporific

2 of 2 noun
: a soporific agent (as a drug)

More from Merriam-Webster on soporific

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