Soporific
adjective
Causing or likely to cause sleep or tiredness.
The soporific sound of the rain outside made it difficult to stay awake.
noun
A medicine or drug that causes sleep.
After his surgery, his doctor prescribed a soporific to help him sleep.
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Causing or likely to cause sleep or tiredness.
The soporific sound of the rain outside made it difficult to stay awake.
noun
A medicine or drug that causes sleep.
After his surgery, his doctor prescribed a soporific to help him sleep.
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Feeling Drowsy
Describes something that makes you feel sleepy, not necessarily at bedtime.
The lecture was so soporific I nearly dozed off.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Negative
Can be used positively for something calming or peacefully boring.
I find the sound of the ocean waves soporific.
Pro Tip 3/3Literary Use
Often used in literature to enhance imagery of sleepiness or monotony.
The poet described the noon sun as soporific, dulling active minds.
Pro Tip 1/3Feeling Drowsy
Describes something that makes you feel sleepy, not necessarily at bedtime.
The lecture was so soporific I nearly dozed off.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Negative
Can be used positively for something calming or peacefully boring.
I find the sound of the ocean waves soporific.
Pro Tip 3/3Literary Use
Often used in literature to enhance imagery of sleepiness or monotony.
The poet described the noon sun as soporific, dulling active minds.
Pro Tip 1/3Feeling Drowsy
Describes something that makes you feel sleepy, not necessarily at bedtime.
The lecture was so soporific I nearly dozed off.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Negative
Can be used positively for something calming or peacefully boring.
I find the sound of the ocean waves soporific.
Pro Tip 3/3Literary Use
Often used in literature to enhance imagery of sleepiness or monotony.
The poet described the noon sun as soporific, dulling active minds.
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Video examples
Eric Liu: Why ordinary...
has such a soporific, even a narcoleptic effect on us? I think it's because the very word signifies something exceedingly virtuous, exceedingly important, and exceedingly boring. Well, I think it's the responsibility of people like us,
Video examples
Eric Liu: Why ordinary...
has such a soporific, even a narcoleptic effect on us? I think it's because the very word signifies something exceedingly virtuous, exceedingly important, and exceedingly boring. Well, I think it's the responsibility of people like us,
Example 1 of 1
Quote examples
Edmund White
American Novelist
I lived through the Fifties in the Midwest when everything that was happening - the repression of homosexuality, for instance, the demonization of the Left, the giggly, soporific ordinariness of adolescence, the stone-deafness to the social injustice all around us - seemed not only unobjectionable but also nonexistent.
Quote examples
Steve Kornacki
Mr. Giuliani's liabilities as a G.O.P. candidate were obvious. There was his well-documented history of cultural liberalism - on abortion, gay rights, immigration and gun control - which he tried, unsuccessfully, to mask. And then there was his style - bland, uninspiring, even soporific.
Quote examples
Sendhil Mullainathan
American Economist
Web searching and cellphone use both flourish in the wee hours. Before the dawn of the web, I would stay up watching television. But there is something soporific about television: I would often nod off. Not so when I'm online. As technologies expand, these problems may only worsen.
Quote examples
Edmund White
American Novelist
I lived through the Fifties in the Midwest when everything that was happening - the repression of homosexuality, for instance, the demonization of the Left, the giggly, soporific ordinariness of adolescence, the stone-deafness to the social injustice all around us - seemed not only unobjectionable but also nonexistent.
Quote examples
Steve Kornacki
Mr. Giuliani's liabilities as a G.O.P. candidate were obvious. There was his well-documented history of cultural liberalism - on abortion, gay rights, immigration and gun control - which he tried, unsuccessfully, to mask. And then there was his style - bland, uninspiring, even soporific.
Quote examples
Sendhil Mullainathan
American Economist
Web searching and cellphone use both flourish in the wee hours. Before the dawn of the web, I would stay up watching television. But there is something soporific about television: I would often nod off. Not so when I'm online. As technologies expand, these problems may only worsen.
Example 1 of 3
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