SOBERNESS Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

soberness

noun

Definition of soberness

as in intentness

a mental state free of jesting or trifling the unexpected soberness of the class clown at the memorial service was startling

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of soberness Because of the way the director works, emotions tend to be more discussed than felt, although there’s something about Carla’s desperation that pierces through all the soberness. — Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 17 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for soberness

Noun

No bigger than a microwave oven, Idefix will plop onto Phobos by itself, bouncing for several minutes before coming to a halt in the moon's extraordinarily low gravity.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026
At the time, Rastinejad and her colleagues wondered whether a black hole’s gravity had ripped up a companion neutron star, as if unseen godly hands had pulled it apart like dough.

— Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of gravity

Noun

But the earnestness of their performances, the texture of their hesitation, makes the video far more compelling than any of its deepfake counterparts.

— Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Still, there’s something to the earnestness with which the movie does finally have its daddy issues and its cetacean ones intersect.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of earnestness

Noun

Adding to the solemnity of the occasion was a string quartet that played two slow movements from Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite.

— Peter E. Gordon, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026
What’s also obvious from Mel’s photography is the solemnity of these places and the humanity of those living and working within them.

— Stephanie Hanes, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of solemnity

Noun

By May 2026, all 11 of xAI’s original cofounders had departed the company, a cascade that began in earnest in February when Tony Wu, described as one of the most operationally central cofounders, announced his resignation.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 June 2026
Modern viticulture began in earnest here in the 1970s before blossoming in the ’90s.

— Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 June 2026

Definition of earnest

Noun

But this particular reality show tries to justify its controversial existence by proclaiming its seriousness with regards to psychology, philosophy, and current events.

— Judy Berman, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
There’s a level of seriousness that belies the 90-minute comedy film he’s made, which features an imbecilic white rapper who speaks in Caribbean-British slang and a contraption that shoots bullets out of one’s rear end.

— Lacey Rose, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of seriousness

Browse Nearby Words

sober

soberness

sobersided

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“Soberness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soberness. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of soberness

noun

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