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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 "to 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.
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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.”
Examples of sublimate in a Sentence
Armond White, National Review, 8 Nov. 2023
Outer material could have either sublimated and then been lost to space.
—Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 14 Oct. 2023
In both fighting and dance, the body is the main vehicle of expression—ideas, emotions, and history are sublimated into movements that can be explosively deliberate or tranquil.
—Jasper Lo, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2023
But of course she’s also sublimated a lot of other likely previous-gen sources, from Avril to Billie (along with the aformentioned Kurt and Cure nods).
—Chris Willman, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023
Anderson’s presence is sublimated, as was typical of the style of The New Yorker under William Shawn’s editorship, and typical, too, of Anderson’s own style: self-effacing, to an unusual degree.
—Jonathan Lethem, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023
And Ireland’s turn as the exhausted, disappointed Sonya, sublimating her grief to prop up Vanya’s spirits, is poignantly on point.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 14 July 2023
The Phaedrus offers a few speeches inveighing against love before praising a special, divine version of it, one in which erotic madness is sublimated to the shared, sexless pursuit of virtue and knowledge.
—Agnes Callard, Harper's Magazine, 7 Feb. 2022
To sublimate this film of words, the director put huge care in the images and music.
—Trinidad Barleycorn, Variety, 28 Apr. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sublimate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Verb
Middle English, from Medieval Latin sublimatus, past participle of sublimare
Verb
1559, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Noun
circa 1626, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing sublimate
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Cite this Entry
“Sublimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sublimate. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
sublimate
verb
Medical Definition
sublimate
1 of 2 noun
-mət
sublimate
2 of 2 transitive verb
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