How to Use sober up in a Sentence

sober up

verb
  • Moore was found drinking in a Toronto pub then helped to sober up before the game.
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
  • The Knicks players may still have champagne in their hair, but the front office sobered up a long time ago.
    — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 22 June 2026
  • People really sober up, but there’s no panic.
    — Akash Kapur, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
  • Kyle emotionally sobers up to go talk to Kerry.
    — Emma Soren, Vulture, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Alex drags him to her place to sober up, but by the time the sun is up, Martin is gone and the incident is all over the internet — with video!
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Until then, there’s one last heart-to-heart, and this one is between Amanda and Kyle, who has sobered up enough to talk about their relationship.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Richardson had a heart attack soon after sobering up, then, depressed, another in the taxi coming from the hospital, and was gone by 2012.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
  • At midnight, instead of the traditional pamidorov dzvadzegh, or tomato omelet, for guests who want to sober up after too many vodka shots, food trucks line up in front of the banquet hall serving pizza, burgers and ice cream.
    — Ani Duzdabanyan, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026
  • Even Wall Street, which lately has been drunk on a cocktail of AI hype and rate-cut anticipation, briefly sobered up to take in the Thursday wholesale report.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter commended Martin for handling the break-in, and confirmed the raccoon had sobered up.
    — CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025
  • Early next year, the Lurie administration plans to open a new sobering center — overseen by the sheriff’s office and run by a city contractor — where officers could take people arrested for public drug use to sober up and get connected to treatment.
    — Maggie Angst, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sober up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: