sobering
adjective
so·ber·ing ˈsō-b(ə-)riŋ 
: tending to make one thoughtful or sober
Example Sentences
His death is a sobering reminder of the dangers of mountaineering.
Recent Examples on the Web National data released this week painted a similarly sobering picture of the rest of the country, showing reading and math scores among young students dropping to the lowest levels in decades. 
Lauren Lumpkin, Washington Post, 5 Sep. 2022 Math and reading test scores for elementary school students nationwide fell significantly between 2020 and 2022, a sobering indication of the pandemic’s effects. Melissa Noel, Essence, 2 Sep. 2022 DeBurgo lost the weight while trying to save money – a sobering manifestation of the country’s cataclysmic cost-of-living crisis, one that appears to have no end in sight. Kara Fox, CNN, 31 Aug. 2022 Walensky’s sobering admissions followed a comprehensive review based on interviews with roughly 120 public health experts from inside and outside the agency. Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2022 This is – this is a sobering and frightening moment for people working in law enforcement, in part because the environment is so chaotic and in part because the threat actors behave in ways that are really random and hard to predict. NBC News, 14 Aug. 2022 After the Three Mile Island incident, a Presidential commission, chaired by John Kemeny, the mathematician and president of Dartmouth College, issued a sobering report. Daniel Ford, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2022 Danny Strong’s sobering and kaleidoscopic look at the opioid crisis landed 14 nominations, including directing, writing and six for acting, and can boast a certain social import that its competitors cannot. Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Aug. 2022 But a recent analysis from The Pew Charitable Trusts provided a sobering reminder of just how far Connecticut still has to go — even considering its great wealth — to overcome decades of fiscal irresponsibility. Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 2 Aug. 2022 See More
Lauren Lumpkin, Washington Post, 5 Sep. 2022 Math and reading test scores for elementary school students nationwide fell significantly between 2020 and 2022, a sobering indication of the pandemic’s effects. Melissa Noel, Essence, 2 Sep. 2022 DeBurgo lost the weight while trying to save money – a sobering manifestation of the country’s cataclysmic cost-of-living crisis, one that appears to have no end in sight. Kara Fox, CNN, 31 Aug. 2022 Walensky’s sobering admissions followed a comprehensive review based on interviews with roughly 120 public health experts from inside and outside the agency. Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2022 This is – this is a sobering and frightening moment for people working in law enforcement, in part because the environment is so chaotic and in part because the threat actors behave in ways that are really random and hard to predict. NBC News, 14 Aug. 2022 After the Three Mile Island incident, a Presidential commission, chaired by John Kemeny, the mathematician and president of Dartmouth College, issued a sobering report. Daniel Ford, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2022 Danny Strong’s sobering and kaleidoscopic look at the opioid crisis landed 14 nominations, including directing, writing and six for acting, and can boast a certain social import that its competitors cannot. Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Aug. 2022 But a recent analysis from The Pew Charitable Trusts provided a sobering reminder of just how far Connecticut still has to go — even considering its great wealth — to overcome decades of fiscal irresponsibility. Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 2 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1816, in the meaning defined above