Definition of sobriquet
: a descriptive name or epithet : nickname
variants:
or less commonly
soubriquet
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\ˈsō-bri-ˌkā, -ˌket, ˈsü-; ˌsō-bri-ˈkā, -ˈket, ˌsü-\
Updated on: 8 Mar 2018
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Examples of sobriquet in a Sentence
Baseball player Ty Cobb was also known by the sobriquet “The Georgia Peach.”
tagged her with the sobriquet “peanut” because of her diminutive size
Recent Examples of sobriquet from the Web
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Billed as a British answer to the FBI, the NCA when mentioned to detectives tends to prompt another sobriquet: the Never Catch ’em Agency.
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Duckworth had first tagged Trump with the sobriquet in January, after Trump accused Democrats of shutting down the government at the peril of the military.
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Trump’s new sobriquet for Bannon, will stick to him for a while.
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This mysterious paucity of information about Vermeer led to Thoré’s sobriquet mon Sphinx.
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Some of the Elite Eight—is that a better sobriquet?—operate in different corners of the world from one another.
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The fallout was significant enough to earn a sobriquet in the financial markets: the taper tantrum.
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The fallout was significant enough to earn a sobriquet in the financial markets: the taper tantrum.
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The fallout was significant enough to earn a sobriquet in the financial markets: the taper tantrum.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sobriquet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
This synonym of nickname has the same meaning in modern French as it does in English. In Middle French, however, its earlier incarnation soubriquet referred to both a nickname and a tap under the chin. Centuries later, the connection between these two meanings isn't clear, but what is clear is that the "nickname" meaning of sobriquet was well established in French by the time English speakers borrowed the term in the mid-17th century - and was the only meaning that was adopted. In current English, the spelling sobriquet is most common, but soubriquet is also an accepted variant.
Origin and Etymology of sobriquet
sobriquet Synonyms
SOBRIQUET Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of sobriquet for English Language Learners
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: a name or phrase that describes the character of someone or something
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