SOBRIETY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does sobriety mean? 

• SOBRIETY (noun)
  The noun SOBRIETY has 4 senses:

1. the state of being sober and not intoxicated by alcohol

2. moderation in or abstinence from alcohol or other drugs

3. a manner that is serious and solemn

4. abstaining from excess

  Familiarity information: SOBRIETY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOBRIETY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being sober and not intoxicated by alcohol

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

soberness; sobriety

Hypernyms ("sobriety" is a kind of...):

temporary state (a state that continues for a limited time)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Moderation in or abstinence from alcohol or other drugs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

dryness; sobriety

Hypernyms ("sobriety" is a kind of...):

moderation; temperance (the trait of avoiding excesses)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A manner that is serious and solemn

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

graveness; gravity; soberness; sobriety; somberness; sombreness

Hypernyms ("sobriety" is a kind of...):

earnestness; serious-mindedness; seriousness; sincerity (the trait of being serious)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sobriety"):

stodginess; stuffiness (dull and pompous gravity)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Abstaining from excess

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

sobriety; temperance

Hypernyms ("sobriety" is a kind of...):

abstinence (act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite)

 Context examples 

Jo had sudden fits of sobriety, and was seen to shake her fist at Mr. Brooke's umbrella, which had been left in the hall.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

This declaration brought on a loud and overpowering reply, of which no part was very distinct, except the frequent exclamations, amounting almost to oaths, which adorned it, and Catherine was left, when it ended, with rather a strengthened belief of there being a great deal of wine drunk in Oxford, and the same happy conviction of her brother's comparative sobriety.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

He was in high spirits, doing everything with happy ease, and preeminent in all the lively turns, quick resources, and playful impudence that could do honour to the game; and the round table was altogether a very comfortable contrast to the steady sobriety and orderly silence of the other.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Madam, he pursued, I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly apparel; and each of the young persons before us has a string of hair twisted in plaits which vanity itself might have woven; these, I repeat, must be cut off; think of the time wasted, of—Mr. Brocklehurst was here interrupted: three other visitors, ladies, now entered the room.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)