Dictionary entry

Sobriety

Webster's Dictionary 1913

So‐bri″e‐ty (?), n. [L. sobrietas: cf. F. sobriété. See Sober.] 1. Habitual soberness or temperance as to the use of spirituous liquors; as, a man of sobriety.

Public sobriety is a relative duty. Blackstone.

2. Habitual freedom from enthusiasm, inordinate passion, or overheated imagination; calmness; coolness; gravity; seriousness; as, the sobriety of riper years.

Mirth makes them not mad,

Nor sobriety sad. Denham.

Syn. — Soberness; temperance; abstinence; abstemiousness; moderation; regularity; steadness; calmness; coolness; sober-mindeness; sedateness; staidness; gravity; seriousness; solemnity.