How to Use sobering in a Sentence

sobering

adjective
  • His death is a sobering reminder of the dangers of mountaineering.
  • But on the ground in Afghanistan, the news is far more sobering.
    Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Aug. 2019
  • At the end of a sobering week, we're left with the vigils.
    ABC News, 25 July 2021
  • Their most sobering message was that the world still hasn’t seen the worst of it.
    John Branch, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2020
  • That’s a sobering turn of events for a sports franchise that ruled the Bay Area’s roost for most of the ’60s and ’70s.
    Gary Peterson, The Mercury News, 25 July 2019
  • And for a sobering dose of caution, thank the Dodgers, still hot on their spikes.
    Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 Sep. 2021
  • That's been the sobering pace of shootings in Kentucky's largest city since the start of 2020.
    The Courier-Journal, 10 May 2021
  • In a sobering turn of events, Elon Musk prepares to eat his own words.
    WSJ, 4 Oct. 2022
  • Yet the film is rooted in a sobering grasp of the trauma that can be the flip side of triumph.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Oct. 2024
  • This week’s Davos confab is sure to be more sobering than most.
    Jennifer Duggan, Time, 15 Jan. 2023
  • But that fact has never been more sobering than in his death.
    Lucy Ford, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024
  • The video then flits back to 2020, with the sportsman giving a sobering message.
    Sara Spary, CNN, 3 Dec. 2020
  • The more sobering thought for the Nuggets can be summarized in two words and a hyphen: Ant-Man.
    Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 4 May 2024
  • So the actual death rate is (and should be) much more sobering.
    Star Tribune, 9 Dec. 2020
  • That’s the sobering reality of a day and loss such as this.
    oregonlive, 11 June 2020
  • But in the sobering morning light, Adam’s demeanor changes, kicking her to the curb.
    Courtney Howard, Variety, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The sobering number means there’s been more mass shootings than days so far in 2023.
    Nouran Salahieh, CNN, 19 June 2023
  • In that sense, the show has a unity that is sobering and inspiring.
    Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 20 July 2023
  • That sobering remark wipes the smile off Egan’s face as quickly as the sight of Clevan put it there.
    Hunter Ingram, Variety, 23 Feb. 2024
  • John didn't want to become part of a sobering statistic.
    Scottie Andrew, CNN, 27 Oct. 2020
  • Consider some of the sobering facts presented in the book.
    Madhukar Pai, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024
  • The resulting film is one of the most sobering works about war that has ever reached the silver screen.
    Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 10 Jan. 2020
  • Hilton and Doyle leaving would be a sobering moment for Colts fans.
    Evan Sidery, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2022
  • Good job moving the patient to a possible choice to change in the sobering centers.
    Torie Bosch, STAT, 16 Dec. 2023
  • An even more sobering fact, only three of the 39 are women of color.
    Jennifer Dirks, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 15 Sep. 2020
  • But there’s a second, more sobering lesson: There are limits to how much the country, and the world, can adapt.
    New York Times, 2 Sep. 2021
  • But in all that data he’s been parsing, two sobering threads have emerged.
    Jen Chaney, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2024
  • The sobering, scary news caused Kang to miss nearly three months and inspired some soul-searching.
    Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2023
  • For those aiming to retire in 30 years, the financial math to reach this goal is sobering.
    Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 May 2025
  • The state agency collects similar data from every district in the county, and the results are sobering.
    Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 June 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sobering.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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