Sedate
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To calm or put (a person) to sleep using a sedative drug.
"Though he may have been sedated, he knew I was there, knew who I was, knew I was talking to him."
- 2 cause to be calm or quiet as by administering a sedative to wordnet
- 3 To make tranquil.
- 1 Remaining composed and dignified, and avoiding too much activity or excitement.
"[…] they will rashly huddle up all together, and not admitting the least check of a sedate judgement, publish onely the impetuous dictates of their indiscreet and too precipitant fancie […]"
- 2 Not overly ornate or showy.
"Sometimes she passed down avenues of sedate mansions, soberly numbered ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, and so on right up to two or three hundred, each the copy of the other, with two pillars and six steps and a pair of curtains neatly drawn […]"
- 1 characterized by dignity and propriety wordnet
- 2 dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises wordnet
Example
More examples"During his teens and twenties, Tom was a party animal, but he now lives a sedate life with his wife Mary, and children."
Etymology
The verb is first attested in 1646, the adjective in 1661; borrowed from Latin sēdātus, perfect passive participle of sēdō (“to settle”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.