Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Describing something that causes more sober thought or concern.
  • verb Present participle of sober.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective tending to make sober or more serious

Etymologies

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Examples

  • “And I bring news,” Niccolo said, his expression sobering.

    Before Midnight Cameron Dokey 2007

  • He took hold of her elbow, his expression sobering.

    The Pleasure Seekers Melanie George 2003

  • He took hold of her elbow, his expression sobering.

    The Pleasure Seekers Melanie George 2003

  • “I don’t know,” he said, his expression sobering at once.

    Nevermore Kelly Creagh 2010

  • “I don’t know,” he said, his expression sobering at once.

    Nevermore Kelly Creagh 2010

  • “I don’t know,” he said, his expression sobering at once.

    Nevermore Kelly Creagh 2010

  • More sobering is the picture Laura Bush paints of how life inside the White House was transformed with the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

    Laura Bush's life, straight from the 'Heart' 2010

  • More sobering is the reference in the Gippsland Mercury to “the depredations of the wild blacks, with whom he had many a brush.”

    Archive 2009-03-01 2009

  • What's really sobering is that when I first came to Stratford and saw Mr. Hutt perform, he was younger than I am now.

    August 2005 2005

  • "There'll be casualties," Bericus murmured, his expression sobering, and he sighed.

    Black Horses For The King McCaffrey, Anne 1996

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