sobriety
/səˈbrʌɪəti
/noun [mass noun]
1The state of being sober: the price of beer compelled me to maintain a certain level of sobriety...
- This was followed by a series of rapid texts establishing their respective levels of sobriety.
- My reasons tend to vary according to my mood and level of sobriety.
- Treatment has only one goal: sobriety or total abstinence from alcohol or the abused substance.
Synonyms
soberness, clear-headedness;
abstinence, teetotalism, non-indulgence;
abstemiousness, temperance, moderation, moderateness
2The quality of being staid or solemn: she speaks with such sobriety, it’s clear she speaks the truth...
- The director Marc Forster's film takes exuberant leaps from the sensible adult sobriety of Edwardian London to the fantasy world of Neverland and back again.
- As they have been realised, the dreams themselves have assumed a peculiar character of sobriety, of the spirit of positivism, and beyond that, of boredom.
- At no stage have we shown, or sought to show, any competence, insight, initiative, wit, sobriety, sincerity or indeed any capability at all.
Synonyms
seriousness, solemnness, solemnity, thoughtfulness, gravity, graveness, sombreness, severity, earnestness, sedateness, staidness, dignity, dignified demeanour, steadiness, level-headedness, serious-mindedness, common sense, pragmatism, practicality, practicalness, self-control, self-restraint, conservatism, strictness, puritanism
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French sobriete or Latin sobrietas, from sobrius (see sober).