sublimity

noun sub·lim·i·ty \ sə-ˈbli-mə-tē \

|Updated on: 5 Jun 2018

Definition of sublimity

plural sublimities

1 : the quality or state of being sublime

2 : something sublime or exalted

Recent Examples of sublimity from the Web

This is the sublime, but in Aldred’s hands its not a domineering sublimity that seeks to own the landscape, to assert the ubiquity of the human soul.

— josephine livingstone, The New Republic, "Shaking the Tree," 30 May 2018
But Bresson’s spare stylistics achieved a sublimity while Schrader’s, though intermittently powerful, too often feel schematic.

— peter rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, "'First Reformed' charts a young priest's slide into ecoterrorism," 18 May 2018
That masterpiece — pure dance, ceremonious, hierarchical, formal, classicism in excelsis — exemplified the sublimity that Robbins henceforth strove to pursue.

— New York Times, "Jerome Robbins, Ballet’s Mr. ‘Take It Easy, Baby,’ at 100," 27 Apr. 2018
In one such glimpse of sublimity, a group of young Native American rodeo riders drink beer, roughhouse, and sing songs in the immensity of the Badlands surrounding the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in South Dakota.

— peter keough, BostonGlobe.com, "‘The Rider’: What cinema is capable of at its best," 25 Apr. 2018
The gorgeous choral crescendos have a dark sublimity in which irony is abandoned for something helplessly true.

— charles mcnulty, latimes.com, "With 'A Pink Chair,' Wooster Group conjures from spirits from theater's past," 7 Apr. 2018
Tomb-like, haunting, moody, intimidating, even spiritual, Ando's buildings are spatial sublimity at its finest.

— brad dunning, GQ, "These Are the 8 Architectural Wonders Of the Fashion World," 28 Mar. 2018
But those rows of blank windows and unvarying girders and columns, the unadorned stone carapaces and glass skins, take on their own sublimity.

— a.o. scott, New York Times, "Review: ‘Tall’ Is a Little Movie About How Buildings Got So Big," 17 Jan. 2018
Five short stories are read by five noteworthy actors in a tribute to the enduring influence of this writer’s work in all its darkness and sublimity, before his death last year at age 67.

— New York Times, "New & Noteworthy," 8 Jan. 2018

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