SOBRIETY Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

sobriety

noun

sə-ˈbrī-ə-tē

Definition of sobriety

as in intentness

a mental state free of jesting or trifling an abrupt sobriety fell over the group when they heard the news

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in temperance

voluntary restraint in the satisfaction of one's appetites although she can afford to wear anything, she practices a sartorial sobriety that bespeaks class and taste

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of sobriety Micron still trading 15% below its June peak and Nvidia sitting at such a steep discount to the market P/E and that of defensive, capex-light Apple, suggest a level of sobriety that – all else equal – could mean that some risk has been drained away. — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026 The Grammy Award-winning singer will hit the road for the Everything Begins Tour in April, marking her first North American tour since a brief retreat from the public eye to focus on her sobriety and newfound fame. — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 5 Oct. 2026 Drinking less is becoming more common, and the social rules around sobriety are still catching up. — Megan Buerger, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2026 After performing poorly on field sobriety tests, he was taken into custody. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 2 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sobriety

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sobriety

Noun

Waugh was a magnificent writer, and his prose has a rare gravity and balance.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 5 Oct. 2026
There is no wind on the moon but, with less gravity, debris can travel far after an explosion.

— Selam Gebrekidan, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of gravity

Noun

As the temperance movement grew, the Besley Brewery attempted to change with the times, but was later sold around 1912.

— Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Over his shoulder was an enormous portrait of the hatchet-wielding temperance crusader Carrie Nation, an icon of resistance to the excesses of the first Gilded Age, when similar discontent had roiled the prairies.

— Kyle Paoletta, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of temperance

Noun

Elizabeth Strout illustrates a kind man with an endearing earnestness about him who struggles with the fact that the world is not so simple anymore.

— Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026
The diaries—particularly in Julian Sachs’s unexpurgated version, which captures Pavese’s alternating earnestness, archness, and pungent vulgarity—pose something of a problem.

— Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of earnestness

Noun

By May 2026, all 11 of xAI’s original cofounders had departed the company, a cascade that began in earnest in February when Tony Wu, described as one of the most operationally central cofounders, announced his resignation.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 June 2026
Modern viticulture began in earnest here in the 1970s before blossoming in the ’90s.

— Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 June 2026