sober up
phrasal verb
sobered up; sobering up; sobers up
: to become sober or less drunk or to make (a drunk person) sober or less drunk
You need to sober up before you go.
I tried to sober her up.
I have to sober myself up.
Examples of sober up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter commended Martin for handling the break-in, and confirmed the raccoon had sobered up.
—
CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025
Alex drags him to her place to sober up, but by the time the sun is up, Martin is gone and the incident is all over the internet — with video!
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025
On the other hand, there's a fair chance that this latest crisis of faith in the AI theme is just what's needed to have investors sober up a bit, rebuild a slight wall of worry, stress-test their growth models and then prolong the fun.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 27 Sep. 2025
Susanville officers determined Simpson was under the influence of drugs and booked him into jail in town, where he was expected to be released by deputies after sobering up.
—Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Even Wall Street, which lately has been drunk on a cocktail of AI hype and rate-cut anticipation, briefly sobered up to take in the Thursday wholesale report.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
Richardson had a heart attack soon after sobering up, then, depressed, another in the taxi coming from the hospital, and was gone by 2012.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
After a massive win against the Minnesota Lynx that netted the team an extra $500,000, the team quickly sobered up from the celebration to take down the Las Vegas Aces.
—Devin Robertson, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 July 2025
In the story, the father of Biel’s Chloe and Banks’ Nikki was a drunk who sobered up before his younger daughter Chloe was old enough to be aware of the worst of his behavior.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 26 May 2025
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CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025
Alex drags him to her place to sober up, but by the time the sun is up, Martin is gone and the incident is all over the internet — with video!
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025
On the other hand, there's a fair chance that this latest crisis of faith in the AI theme is just what's needed to have investors sober up a bit, rebuild a slight wall of worry, stress-test their growth models and then prolong the fun.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 27 Sep. 2025
Susanville officers determined Simpson was under the influence of drugs and booked him into jail in town, where he was expected to be released by deputies after sobering up.
—Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Even Wall Street, which lately has been drunk on a cocktail of AI hype and rate-cut anticipation, briefly sobered up to take in the Thursday wholesale report.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
Richardson had a heart attack soon after sobering up, then, depressed, another in the taxi coming from the hospital, and was gone by 2012.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
After a massive win against the Minnesota Lynx that netted the team an extra $500,000, the team quickly sobered up from the celebration to take down the Las Vegas Aces.
—Devin Robertson, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 July 2025
In the story, the father of Biel’s Chloe and Banks’ Nikki was a drunk who sobered up before his younger daughter Chloe was old enough to be aware of the worst of his behavior.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 26 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sober up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sober%20up. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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