sobering

[soh-ber-ing] / ˈsoʊ bər ɪŋ /

ADJECTIVE

serious

Synonyms

STRONGEST

dangerous deep difficult far-reaching grievous important major meaningful severe significant tough urgent

WEAK

arduous fateful fell formidable grave grim hard heavy laborious meaning business menacing momentous no joke no laughing matter of consequence operose out for blood playing hard ball pressing smoking strenuous strictly business threatening ugly unamusing unhumorous worrying

Antonyms

STRONGEST

calm easy facile friendly insignificant little meaningless minor small trivial unimportant worthless

WEAK

flippant funny happy light unserious

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But beneath the enthusiasm lies a far more sobering reality.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Buschatzke called such large mandatory cuts a sobering possibility for Arizona.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade, said the incident was a "sobering and heartbreaking reminder that our families, neighbours and communities are what is important".

From BBC • May 14, 2026

And soon I’d learn something even more sobering: If this technology had been around three decades ago, it might have spared my mom a surgery and some treatments.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

In the future we may well be able to assemble nucleotides in any desired sequence, to produce whatever characteristics we think desirable—a sobering and disquieting prospect.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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