Definition of SUBLIMATE

Sublime vs. Sublimate

At first glance, the question of whether sublime and sublimate are related might seem like an easy one to answer, as they appear to come from the same source. However, the most common senses in which each of these words is used today are dissimilar enough to give pause. The two words are indeed related, and in some senses are in fact synonymous. Both share the meaning “to cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state and condense back to solid form,” although this is not widely used except among chemists. Sublime was first used as a verb with the above meaning, and after a century or two of such use took on the adjectival role in which it is often found today (“the concert was a sublime experience”). Sublimate has had several meanings as a verb (including “to elevate to a place of honor” and “to give a more elevated character to”) before coming to its common meaning today, which is “to divert the expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its unacceptable form to one that is considered more socially or culturally acceptable.”

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Verb

To sublimate is to change the form, but not the essence. Physically speaking, it means to transform solid to vapor; psychologically, it means changing the outlet, or means, of expression from something base and inappropriate to something more positive or acceptable. The word sublimate comes from the Latin verb sublimare, which means "to lift up" or "raise" and which is also the ancestor of our sublime. "Sublimate" itself once meant "to elevate to a place of dignity or honor" or "to give a more elevated character to," but these meanings are now obsolete.

Examples of sublimate in a Sentence

Verb She sublimated her erotic feelings into a series of paintings. I sublimated my grief at the death of my mother by throwing myself into my work.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Games can play an outsized PR role in this, and this attempt to sublimate white phosphorous into that pantheon must be seen as part of that effort. — Nick Capozzoli, Ars Technica, "How Modern Warfare smooths over the horrors of war," 22 Nov. 2019 Like all pursuits of objectivity, Carby’s attempts to sublimate her individual interests are imperfect. — Maya Binyam, The New Yorker, "An Intimate History of the British Empire," 9 Oct. 2019 Slight irregularities can turn into dramatic spikes of snow as the structures' surfaces concentrate sunlight toward certain regions, sublimating some parts faster than others and leading to longer and spikier forms. — Sarah Lewin Frasier, Scientific American, "Scientists Explain Pluto's Skyscraper-Size Ice Blades," 27 Sep. 2017 This causes the water molecules to sublimate, or change directly from a solid to a gas, and move out of the food. — James Lynch, Popular Mechanics, "How To Eat Well on Your Next Backpacking Trip," 7 Sep. 2019 More recently, groupware programs such as Slack have tried to sublimate work email into chat rooms, but that works only inside an organization; there’s no stopping the email from outside customers, suppliers, or colleagues from arriving. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, "Work Ruined Email," 2 Aug. 2019 Joseph wears the Commander's suit without fully sublimating his personality. — Elena Nicolaou, refinery29.com, "What's The Deal With Commander Lawrence's Wife In The Handmaid's Tale?," 20 June 2019 At its best, branding can incorporate a candidate’s identity and sublimate a campaign into a movement. — Avi Selk, Washington Post, "Red, white and blah: Why are these all these 2020 campaign logos so boring?," 10 June 2019 Over time, as orbital changes heated up this region, the nitrogen would start to sublimate away into the atmosphere, perhaps breaking through a water ice crust to do so. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Enigmatic ridges on Pluto may be the remains of vanished nitrogen glaciers," 17 Nov. 2018 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun When the climate is a bit warmer, parts of the methane ice sublimate away, heading straight back to gas form, according to the new study. — Sarah Lewin Frasier, Scientific American, "Scientists Explain Pluto's Skyscraper-Size Ice Blades," 27 Sep. 2017 Io leaves Jupiter's shadow after 1.7 Earth days, which is 2 hours of Io's day, and the sulfur dioxide sublimates—goes straight from solid to gas—and pumps up the atmosphere once again when the moon re-enters sunlight. — Sarah Lewin Frasier, Scientific American, "Astronomers Watch as Io’s Atmosphere Collapses," 4 Aug. 2016 An initially smooth snowpack sublimates at different rates in different spots, causing small pits to form in some places. — Mike Wall, Space.com, "Jupiter Moon Europa's Jagged Ice Towers Could Imperil Robot Landers," 8 Oct. 2018 The slopes are probably being continuously exposed as the ice sublimates into the Martian atmosphere, likely to cycle up to the poles and end up frozen there. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Large sheets of ice may have been spotted on Mars," 11 Jan. 2018 An initially smooth snowpack sublimates at different rates in different spots, causing small pits to form in some places. — Mike Wall, Space.com, "Jupiter Moon Europa's Jagged Ice Towers Could Imperil Robot Landers," 8 Oct. 2018 The slopes are probably being continuously exposed as the ice sublimates into the Martian atmosphere, likely to cycle up to the poles and end up frozen there. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Large sheets of ice may have been spotted on Mars," 11 Jan. 2018

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

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Last Updated

27 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Sublimate.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sublimate. Accessed 28 January 2020.