soporific

adjective sop·o·rif·ic \ ˌsä-pə-ˈri-fik \

Updated on: 5 Apr 2018

Definition of soporific

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

See soporific defined for English-language learners

soporific was our Word of the Day on 11/30/2016. Hear the podcast!

Examples of soporific in a Sentence

the soporific heat of summer
this medication is soporific, so do not drive after taking it

Recent Examples of soporific from the Web

Three goals in the final 15 minutes put a gloss on a largely soporific performance at a well-below capacity Emirates Stadium.

— afp, chicagotribune.com, "Aubameyang brace leads late Arsenal win over Stoke," 1 Apr. 2018
And at a time when politics seems to be downright histrionic in many parts of the world, Germany’s election campaign has felt surprisingly soporific.

— yascha mounk, Slate Magazine, "You Snooze, She Wins," 13 Sep. 2017
The once-soporific Uzbek media was allowed to explore some topics previously considered taboo.

— yaroslav trofimov, WSJ, "In Uzbekistan, Signs of a Thaw After Decades of Repression," 14 Sep. 2017
Under the guise of Bedouin, the pair have championed a signature sound that is best described as beautifully soporific.

— michael sundius, Billboard, "Bedouin Recreate Pink Floyd Classic; Listen to Guy Gerber's Official Remix: Exclusive Premiere," 24 Aug. 2017
The lawyer, with her drab colors and soporific delivery, seemed intent on boring Americans into compliant indifference.

— katy waldman, Slate Magazine, "Look at My Papers! Look at My Lawyer!," 11 Jan. 2017
Living in the shadow of nuclear annihilation, and having freshly returned from war, whites found their own culture anemic and soporific.

— graeme wood, The Atlantic, "His Kampf," 14 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'soporific.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

"It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific.' I have never felt sleepy after eating lettuces; but then I am not a rabbit." In The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies by Beatrix Potter, the children of Benjamin Bunny were very nearly done in by Mr. McGregor because they ate soporific lettuces that put them into a deep sleep. Their near fate can help you recall the history of soporific. The term traces to the Latin noun sopor, which means "deep sleep." (That root is related to somnus, the Latin word for sleep and the name of the Roman god of sleep.) French speakers used sopor as the basis of soporifique, which was probably the model for the English soporific.