What's the difference between sober and somber?

Sober


Definition:

  • (superl.) Temperate in the use of spirituous liquors; habitually temperate; as, a sober man.
  • (superl.) Not intoxicated or excited by spirituous liquors; as, the sot may at times be sober.
  • (superl.) Not mad or insane; not wild, visionary, or heated with passion; exercising cool, dispassionate reason; self-controlled; self-possessed.
  • (superl.) Not proceeding from, or attended with, passion; calm; as, sober judgment; a man in his sober senses.
  • (superl.) Serious or subdued in demeanor, habit, appearance, or color; solemn; grave; sedate.
  • (v. t.) To make sober.
  • (v. i.) To become sober; -- often with down.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It's typically sober and elegant, and Cotillard excels in a nervy, vulnerable role.
  • (2) Read Rachel’s full story Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chris Owen: ‘I’ve been sober for six years now, and I don’t miss alcohol.’ Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian I spent my 20s playing Russian roulette with alcohol The NHS has been there time and time again for Chris Owen, who battled alcoholism throughout his 20s.
  • (3) Anthony Wells, director of YouGov’s political and social research team, said: “While there will be speculation about whether this movement is connected to the tragic death of Jo Cox, we do not think that it is... We are now in the final week of the referendum campaign and the swing back towards the status quo appears to be in full force.” EU referendum voters unconvinced by scare tactics: ‘I just want to do what’s right’ Read more Today, both sides will resume their battle to capture the votes of the undecided and to persuade people to switch sides, though both the Leave and Remain camps say that the manner of their campaigning will be more sober and less combative.
  • (4) Previous research has found a relationship between increased quantity of alcohol usually consumed per drinking occasion and decreased sober cognitive performance.
  • (5) "Yet the sobering fact remains that a transition to a low-carbon, inclusive green economy is happening far too slowly and the opportunity for meeting the 44 gigatonne target is narrowing annually," Steiner said.
  • (6) The haemostatic imbalance normalizes within two or three weeks of soberness while the immune system requires about two months to recover.
  • (7) Chambers claims she became extremely intoxicated while her ex-boyfriend remained much more sober, and says she has no memory of him having sex with her that night.
  • (8) Therefore, the presence of pulmonary emboli in association with sagittal sinus thrombosis mandates a sober assessment of the need of anticoagulation therapy in the absence of obvious contraindication.
  • (9) Mutual intoxication was a feature in 44% of the cases and in 34% both participants were sober.
  • (10) Impulsive and bonhomous, Saakashvili, meanwhile, is clearly the temperamental opposite of Putin, the sober and clinical former KGB colonel.
  • (11) Barton rubs Old Firm up the wrong way Joey Barton apologises ‘unreservedly’ after being sent home by Rangers Read more The phrase “Joey Barton Twitter storm” is pretty much a tautology, so it was no surprise that his decision to sign for Rangers in May had social media in a kerfuffle when his 2012 tweet – “I am a Celtic fan” – was dredged up so that it might be subject to calm and sober scrutiny from all concerned.
  • (12) And yet here I am today, a sober, emancipated, successful and happy woman.
  • (13) After all, on any sober calculation of relative sins, HSBC's dealings with Mexican drug bandits were surely several leagues more serious than other banks' Libor-rigging scandals.
  • (14) In the swinging 1960s, Peck's sober style seemed a little out of place, though he appeared in a couple of flashy Hitchcockian thrillers, Mirage (1965) and Arabesque (1966), and adapted to the new Hollywood as best he could, looking rather bothered as the father of a demon in The Omen (1976).
  • (15) Alcoholics reported more anger and aggression when drinking than when sober and this effect was greatest among individuals with a history of childhood aggression.
  • (16) She observed soberly that "the moment human beings lacked their own government and had to fall back upon their minimum rights, no authority was left to protect them and no institution was willing to guarantee them … Loss of national rights was identical with loss of human rights … The rights of man, supposedly inalienable, proved to be unenforceable … whenever people appeared who were no longer citizens of any sovereign state."
  • (17) It's not the most groundbreaking piece of research, but I did find it both instructive and sobering.
  • (18) In a year that will be punctuated by sober reflection and a series of commemorative occasions, it is tempting to assume a certain inevitability to events, especially when looking at them through the prism of hindsight.
  • (19) Even in alcoholics who have been sober for a long time, increased cardiac output is very common and these changes are similar to those seen in some patients with labile hypertension.
  • (20) He was a vegan, sober, nonsexual God-botherer partying in the blood-soaked Meatpacking District with the sex-and-druggers.

Somber


Definition:

  • (v. t.) Alt. of Sombre
  • (a.) Alt. of Sombre
  • (n.) Alt. of Sombre

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Melanomas developed on giant pigmented naevi had a particularly somber prognosis: death occurred within 6, 7 and 3 months respectively in the 3 cases observed.
  • (2) Uncompleted mourning and the depression and somber states of mind it created were absorbed by their children from birth on.
  • (3) In these very old people with very somber prognosis, anemia was corrected by surgery without recurrence after 8 and 10 months respectively.
  • (4) If Trump seems strangely incapable of consistency except in the matter of walling out and deporting immigrants, somber Ted Cruz is lurking nearby to alarm us with his ideological purity.
  • (5) Although most readers consider medical publications to be somber and somnifacient, a critical eye will discover a remarkable array of absurdities and assorted other oddities, totally unintended by the authors.
  • (6) Almost every report on macular degeneration begins with a somber reminder that macular degeneration is the single most common cause of blindness in the elderly in the United States and Europe.
  • (7) 'A lot of the movements to combat violence against women are somber.
  • (8) Coronary lesions with atheromatous deposits occurring in later childhood characterize homozygous type IIa hypercholesterolaemia and condition the somber prognosis of a disease which affects one subject in a million.
  • (9) The statement read: It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust.
  • (10) The day after the election, I walked around the camp and it was really somber,” said Kandi Mossett, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes who has been camping at Standing Rock since mid-August.
  • (11) The mood was somber, and many people wiped away tears.
  • (12) She suggests that the question for anyone considering standing for the US presidency should be: “What’s your vision for America?” Then she supplies her own answer: “The challenge is to lead in a way that unites us again and renews the American Dream … Ultimately, what happens in 2016 should be about what kind of future Americans want for themselves and their children – and grandchildren.” The start of the book is more somber.
  • (13) Since President Barack Obama took office, there have been at least 16 major mass shootings, after which he has offered somber words of condolence and called for national healing.
  • (14) In 1811 Mary Reynolds, a somber Pennsylvania spinster, awoke from a prolonged sleep as a new personality.
  • (15) This discussion forms the basis of a review of the worldwide literature, but stresses two problems which determine the prognosis: that of diagnosis, which in the majority of cases is very late, and that of their prognosis, which remains somber because of their tendency to metastasize by blood-borne spread and that of locoregional recurrences.
  • (16) In a strong but somber voice, McDonnell told the judge before sentencing that he was “a heartbroken and humbled man” and that he holds himself accountable.
  • (17) In other essays, she tries to educate a caddish boyfriend by sharing wisdom from He’s Just Not That Into You , and unexpectedly surrenders to the madness of wedding gown shopping, in which “dresses are brought out from back rooms with somber reverence, like the Torah being revealed from the ark”.
  • (18) She did not answer a question about whether Trump did not want to offend people, saying only: “It was our honor to issue a statement in remembrance of this important day.” In its original statement, the White House said: “It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust .
  • (19) At the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 369 hall in Louisville, where supporters had hoped to celebrate a Grimes win, the mood quickly turned somber: one minute, a few young employees were playing stickball while waiting for the party to start, and the next the hall was empty, as the few people who had arrived before the race was called went up to the war room to commiserate and watch the results of the statehouse races.
  • (20) Despite significant advances in many areas, the morbidity and mortality statistics remain as somber reminders of the devastation attributed to this epidemic.