sop·o·rif·ic
ˌsä-pə-ˈri-fik 
1
a
: causing or tending to cause sleep
soporific drugs
b
: tending to dull awareness or alertness
2
: of, relating to, or marked by sleepiness or lethargy
: a soporific agent
specifically
: hypnotic sense 1
Did you know?
Soporific comes from Latin sopor, which means "deep sleep." That root is related to somnus, the Latin word for "sleep." Despite its meaning, somnus has been active, giving English somnolence (sleepiness), somnambulism (sleepwalking), and many other "sleepy" words.
Synonyms
Examples of soporific in a Sentence
Adjective
the soporific heat of summer
this medication is soporific, so do not drive after taking it
Recent Examples on the Web
Lee Sharrock, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024
But now there's something distinctly soporific about it all, and certainly not the kind of writing Capote himself would have wanted associated with his name.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 25 June 2024
Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 15 Oct. 2020
The filmmakers hit the reset button again, to find new conflict-laden places to go, new soporific curses to do.
—BostonGlobe.com, 17 Oct. 2019
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Adjective
Une Chambre à Soi in Château La Coste’s Richard Rogers gallery is inspired by Virginia Woolfe’s extended essay A Room of One’s Own and features more than fifteen artists visualising a soporific journey from sunset to sunrise.
—Lee Sharrock, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024
But now there's something distinctly soporific about it all, and certainly not the kind of writing Capote himself would have wanted associated with his name.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 25 June 2024
Noun
Despite the vicious—and mostly ineffective—GOP attacks on Biden’s mental acuity, the former vice president gave listeners a level of detail Thursday night that bordered on the soporific.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 15 Oct. 2020
The filmmakers hit the reset button again, to find new conflict-laden places to go, new soporific curses to do.
—BostonGlobe.com, 17 Oct. 2019
See all Example Sentences for soporific
Dictionary Entries Near soporific
Cite this Entry
“Soporific.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soporific. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
soporific
1 of 2 adjective
so·po·rif·ic
-ˈrif-ik
: causing or tending to cause sleep
soporific
2 of 2 noun
: a soporific agent (as a drug)
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