How to Use sobering in a Sentence

sobering

adjective
  • His death is a sobering reminder of the dangers of mountaineering.
  • At the end of a sobering week, we're left with the vigils.
    — ABC News, 25 July 2021
  • Their most sobering message was that the world still hasn’t seen the worst of it.
    — John Branch, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2020
  • And for a sobering dose of caution, thank the Dodgers, still hot on their spikes.
    — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 Sep. 2021
  • That's been the sobering pace of shootings in Kentucky's largest city since the start of 2020.
    — The Courier-Journal, 10 May 2021
  • In a sobering turn of events, Elon Musk prepares to eat his own words.
    — WSJ, 4 Oct. 2022
  • Yet the film is rooted in a sobering grasp of the trauma that can be the flip side of triumph.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Oct. 2024
  • This week’s Davos confab is sure to be more sobering than most.
    — Jennifer Duggan, Time, 15 Jan. 2023
  • But that fact has never been more sobering than in his death.
    — Lucy Ford, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024
  • The video then flits back to 2020, with the sportsman giving a sobering message.
    — Sara Spary, CNN, 3 Dec. 2020
  • The more sobering thought for the Nuggets can be summarized in two words and a hyphen: Ant-Man.
    — Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 4 May 2024
  • So the actual death rate is (and should be) much more sobering.
    — Star Tribune, 9 Dec. 2020
  • That’s the sobering reality of a day and loss such as this.
    — oregonlive, 11 June 2020
  • But in the sobering morning light, Adam’s demeanor changes, kicking her to the curb.
    — Courtney Howard, Variety, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The sobering number means there’s been more mass shootings than days so far in 2023.
    — Nouran Salahieh, CNN, 19 June 2023
  • In that sense, the show has a unity that is sobering and inspiring.
    — Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 20 July 2023
  • That sobering remark wipes the smile off Egan’s face as quickly as the sight of Clevan put it there.
    — Hunter Ingram, Variety, 23 Feb. 2024
  • John didn't want to become part of a sobering statistic.
    — Scottie Andrew, CNN, 27 Oct. 2020
  • Consider some of the sobering facts presented in the book.
    — Madhukar Pai, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024
  • Hilton and Doyle leaving would be a sobering moment for Colts fans.
    — Evan Sidery, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2022
  • Good job moving the patient to a possible choice to change in the sobering centers.
    — Torie Bosch, STAT, 16 Dec. 2023
  • An even more sobering fact, only three of the 39 are women of color.
    — Jennifer Dirks, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 15 Sep. 2020
  • But there’s a second, more sobering lesson: There are limits to how much the country, and the world, can adapt.
    — New York Times, 2 Sep. 2021
  • But in all that data he’s been parsing, two sobering threads have emerged.
    — Jen Chaney, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2024
  • The sobering, scary news caused Kang to miss nearly three months and inspired some soul-searching.
    — Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Still, this handsome film serves as a sobering reminder that in any type of conflict, women tend to get the short end of the stick.
    — Tomris Laffly, Variety, 3 Mar. 2022
  • Guard Ricky Rubio offered a longer and more sobering take.
    — Chris Hine, Star Tribune, 25 Dec. 2020
  • The sobering truth is that Wiggins has much more value to the Warriors than any other team.
    — Connor Letourneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Oct. 2021
  • After a sobering final year with Mercedes that appeared to sap some of the fizz from his love for F1, often hamstrung by an underperforming car, Hamilton has a fresh spring in his step.
    — Luke Smith, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025
  • This powerful conjunction shakes up the dreamy energy of Pisces with a sobering dose of reality.
    — Valerie Mesa, People.com, 11 Mar. 2025

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

Last Updated: