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stone-sober

stone-sober

1 6.9
Shows no signs of being drunk
  • adjective
  • /stoʊn ˈsoʊbər/
  • Informal
translation icon : completamente sobrio
  • After the party, I was stone sober and ready to drive home safely.

Examples

  • She was stone sober, her hands behind her back, steady, like a martyr.

  • You mean, this is you stone sober?

  • That he had lived in this mangy place for so long stone sober still surprised him.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I'm cold stone sober.

  • She was stone sober, her hands behind her back, steady, like a martyr.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The man's stone sober.

  • BACK TO THE COURTROOM (INT. /DAY): Joe sits with a stone-sober expression: this isn't easy. # BELINDA #

    Fiction book (1993)
  • He appeared to be stone sober—no wobble to his walk, no squint to his eyes, no puffiness in his cheeks—and I told my mother so.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • He appeared to be stone sober—no wobble to his walk, no squint to his eyes, no puffiness in his cheeks.

Synonyms

sober
vsstone-sober
269 3.2

Not having drunk alcohol or taken drugs

is more emphatic, stressing complete lack of any alcohol effect
cold sober
vsstone-sober
  • Informal
4 6.2

Completely free of alcohol or drugs

is the same idea expressed with different wording or emphasis
stone cold sober
vsstone-sober
  • Informal
3 5.6

Not affected by alcohol or drugs at all

is the same idea expressed with different wording or emphasis
uninebriated
vsstone-sober
7.8

A person who is not affected by alcohol

is similar but often used to stress total absence
unintoxicated
vsstone-sober
6.7

Not affected by alcohol or drugs

is similar but the key stresses absolute lack of influence
unsmashed
vsstone-sober
  • Slang
8.8

Not drunk or affected by alcohol

is like this but emphasizes complete and total absence of alcohol effect
undrunk
vsstone-sober
8.5

Not consumed as a drink or not affected by alcohol

is restricted to the meaning of total absence of alcohol effect

Antonyms

1.6

Having too much alcohol makes your body and mind not work normally

44 4.2

Unable to control your actions because of alcohol or drugs

How Sober

teetotal
7.4
stone-sober
  • Informal
1 6.9
sober
269 3.2
drunk
1.6
tipsy
  • Informal
18 4.8

Surface Forms

stone-sober positive

Morphology

stone-sober = stone + sober (semi-transparent) = stone + sober

The components 'stone' and 'sober' are clear, but the use of 'stone-' as an intensifier meaning 'completely' is idiomatic and may not be obvious to learners.

Etymology

The word stone-sober uses stone as a strong image of something hard and unmoving, so it means 'completely' sober and not affected by alcohol. Think of stone-cold or stone-deaf — the stone part shows total, not a little, which is why stone-sober means fully sober.