Meanings
present singular third person sobers up · participle present sobering up · participle past sobered up · past sobered up
- To become sober; to cause to become sober (usually in terms of alcohol or drugs; sometimes figuratively).
A pot of black coffee ought to sober him up.
2 more examples
She's in no state to go home by herself, so make sure she doesn't drink anything else, and she'll soon sober up.
When the irrational exuberance finally ended and the central bank took away the punch bowl, the business world belatedly sobered up.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek ἐκνήφω
- ἐκνήφω (eknḗphō)to become sober
Arabic صَحَا
- صَحَا (ṣaḥā)to become sober
Catalan desembriagar-se
- desembriagar-seto become sober
Chinese Mandarin 醉醒, 醒酒
- 醉醒 (zuìxǐng)to become sober
- 醒酒 (xǐngjiǔ)to become sober
- 下頭 /下头 (xiàtóu)to become sober
Czech vystřízlivět
- vystřízlivětto become sober
Dutch ontnuchteren
- ontnuchterento become sober
Esperanto malebriiĝi
- malebriiĝito become sober
Finnish selvitä
- selvitäto become sober
French se dégriser, se désenivrer
- se dégriserto become sober
- se désenivrerto become sober
- dégriser(transitive) to cause to become sober
- désenivrer(transitive) to cause to become sober
German ausnüchtern
- ausnüchternto become sober
Greek ξεμεθώ
- ξεμεθώ (xemethó)to become sober
Hebrew הִתְפַּכֵּחַ
- הִתְפַּכֵּחַ (hitpakkéaḥ)to become sober
Hungarian kijózanodik
- kijózanodikto become sober
Irish tar as meisce
- tar as meisceto become sober
Japanese 酔いが覚める
- 酔いが覚める (yoi-ga sameru)to become sober
Polish trzeźwieć, wytrzeźwieć
- trzeźwiećto become sober
- wytrzeźwiećto become sober
- otrzeźwiać(transitive) to cause to become sober
- otrzeźwić(transitive) to cause to become sober
Portuguese desembriagar-se, ficar sóbrio
- desembriagar-seto become sober
- ficar sóbrioto become sober
- ficar sóbriato become sober
- deixar sóbrio(transitive) to cause to become sober
- deixar sóbria(transitive) to cause to become sober
Russian трезве́ть, отрезве́ть
- трезве́ть (trezvétʹ)to become sober
- отрезве́ть (otrezvétʹ)to become sober
Spanish desemborracharse, desembriagarse
- desemborracharseto become sober
- desembriagarseto become sober
- desemborrachar(transitive) to cause to become sober
- desembriagar(transitive) to cause to become sober
Swedish nyktra till
- nyktra tillto become sober
Turkish ayılmak
- ayılmakto become sober
Ukrainian протвере́жувати, протверези́ти
- протвере́жувати (protveréžuvaty)(transitive) to cause to become sober
- протверези́ти (protverezýty)(transitive) to cause to become sober
- витвере́жувати (vytveréžuvaty)(transitive) to cause to become sober
- ви́тверезити (výtverezyty)(transitive) to cause to become sober
- тверези́ти (tverezýty)(transitive) to cause to become sober
Welsh sobri
- sobrito become sober
Cite this entry
sober up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sober%20up
“sober up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sober%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sober up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sober%20up.
Source: sober up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.