Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or character of being sober, in any sense of the word; sobriety.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or state of being sober.

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

  • noun The state or quality of being sober.

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

  • noun the state of being sober and not intoxicated by alcohol
  • noun a manner that is serious and solemn

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From sober +β€Ž -ness

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Examples

  • There are times, Anne dearie, when I know by your eyes that your soberness is put on like a garment and you're really aching to do something wild and young again.

    Rainbow Valley Lucy Maud 1919

  • A great deal of it was a strange language to May, but she half-disapproved of it, as entirely unlike the 'soberness' of Bridgefield ways, and like the Redcastle vicar, whom her father commonly called 'that madman.'

    Nuttie's Father Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862

  • β€œThe report was there were many tears, much soberness and humbling among the family,” Jeffs said after ordering four women and five children to leave the ranch in May 2004.

    Cult leader Warren Jeffs quietly awaits trial, but released evidence reveals his paranoia and ruthlessness 2009

  • She liked him for a certain stern soberness that was his, and for his saving grace of humor.

    CHAPTER 8 2010

  • The Pacific has really grown on me and they both have a soberness as opposed to self-importance that will age well.

    Michael Giltz: DVDs: Harry Potter Finale Arrives, Now Where's Pottermore? Michael Giltz 2011

  • His penchant for harebrained schemes, his disastrous tenure as speaker of the House and his personal history, in a sense, are all part of the same issue, namely a lack of personal discipline, restraint and soberness.

    How to deal with liabilities 2011

  • Noonan says there is a "new soberness," which makes very little sense, considering the people who destroyed the economy have been allowed to go right back to doing the same old thing.

    TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • For all the understandable excitement associated with a very public wedding and national occasion, there is an equally understandable public soberness this time too.

    Royal wedding: A day like no other 2011

  • Noonan says there is a "new soberness," which makes very little sense, considering the people who destroyed the economy have been allowed to go right back to doing the same old thing.

    TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • It's later and with time that a certain soberness, a certain inherent moderation normally take hold.

    The Enigma of Jon Huntsman Peggy Noonan 2011

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