sophisticate

An otherwise urban-dwelling sophisticate, he cultivated a rustic demeanor for France’s benefit, uncharacteristically donning a coonskin hat and simple clothes to impress cosseted aristocrats and ordinary Parisians alike.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

It pulls people in on the promise of speaking effortless French in a Parisian bakery, on being a sophisticate with the drive to learn another language.

From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2023

With a virgin piña colada in my hand, I was no longer a silly little girl in a Laura Ashley dress, but a budding sophisticate sipping a fancy cocktail with maraschino cherry-stained red lips.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2022

Those who know Lee only as his Gi-hun character would barely recognize the dapper sophisticate sitting with excellent posture in a small greenroom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022

He is a sophisticate, a weekend denizen of New York’s theater district, a clotheshorse.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

With its expressionistic, skillfully lit pastels, “My Father’s Dragon” appears, at first, to be a high-tier cartoon for young sophisticates, as one might expect from the Oscar nominee Nora Twomey, who previously directed “The Breadwinner.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2022

Quirky sophisticates know a restaurant's specialties, including the choices that aren't listed on the menu.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2022

When Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony was new, it seemed to the sophisticates to have far less going for it than does Márquez’s concerto.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2021

Lincoln emerges as a folksy, aphorism-spouting backwoods lawyer whose virtuosic political skills outstrip those of all the sophisticates around him.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 10, 2020

He liked the idea of coffee quite a lot—a warm drink that gave you energy and had been for centuries associated with sophisticates and intellectuals.

From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green

"The sophisticated weaponry used continues to point to ongoing external support to both parties", she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

The researchers accomplished this by combining advanced photoelectron spectroscopy with sophisticated mathematical algorithms.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

The former Newcastle and Chelsea manager remains a Uefa technical observer and speaks about adapting to the modern game, using social media, artificial intelligence and increasingly sophisticated data as part of his approach.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Interceptors able to counter modern ballistic missiles are among the most sophisticated and expensive military systems, which is why only a handful of companies worldwide can make them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Not the most sophisticated plan ever contrived, but the only one they had.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Byron and Shelley were always sophisticating about their verses; Keats sophisticated about nothing.

From Little Memoirs of the Nineteenth Century by George Paston

Sophisticā′tion, act of sophisticating, adulterating, or injuring by mixture; Sophis′ticātor, one who sophisticates or adulterates; Sophis′ticism, the philosophy or the methods of the sophists; Soph′istress, a she-sophist; Soph′istry, specious but fallacious reasoning.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

It does so partly by sophisticating it—the sensibility to right and wrong being weakened by every evil act, as a cold in the head takes away the sense of smell.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Isaiah and Jeremiah by Alexander Maclaren

Thus all sin is the overbearing of reason or the sophisticating of reason by passion.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture by Alexander Maclaren

Nothing comes to him, not spoiled by the sophisticating medium of moral uses.

From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb