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Sublime   /səblˈaɪm/   Listen
adjective
Sublime  adj.  (compar. sublimer; superl. sublimest)  
1.
Lifted up; high in place; exalted aloft; uplifted; lofty. "Sublime on these a tower of steel is reared."
2.
Distinguished by lofty or noble traits; eminent; said of persons. "The sublime Julian leader."
3.
Awakening or expressing the emotion of awe, adoration, veneration, heroic resolve, etc.; dignified; grand; solemn; stately; said of an impressive object in nature, of an action, of a discourse, of a work of art, of a spectacle, etc.; as, sublime scenery; a sublime deed. "Easy in words thy style, in sense sublime." "Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong."
4.
Elevated by joy; elate. (Poetic) "Their hearts were jocund and sublime, Drunk with idolatry, drunk with wine."
5.
Lofty of mien; haughty; proud. (Poetic) "Countenance sublime and insolent." "His fair, large front and eye sublime declared Absolute rule."
Synonyms: Exalted; lofty; noble; majestic. See Grand.


noun
Sublime  n.  That which is sublime; with the definite article; as:
(a)
A grand or lofty style in speaking or writing; a style that expresses lofty conceptions. "The sublime rises from the nobleness of thoughts, the magnificence of words, or the harmonious and lively turn of the phrase."
(b)
That which is grand in nature or art, as distinguished from the merely beautiful.


verb
Sublime  v. t.  (past & past part. sublimed; pres. part. subliming)  
1.
To raise on high. (Archaic) "A soul sublimed by an idea above the region of vanity and conceit."
2.
(Chem.) To subject to the process of sublimation; to heat, volatilize, and condense in crystals or powder; to distill off, and condense in solid form; hence, also, to purify.
3.
To exalt; to heighten; to improve; to purify. "The sun... Which not alone the southern wit sublimes, But ripens spirits in cold, northern climes."
4.
To dignify; to ennoble. "An ordinary gift can not sublime a person to a supernatural employment."


Sublime  v. i.  (Chem.) To pass off in vapor, with immediate condensation; specifically, to evaporate or volatilize from the solid state without apparent melting; said of those substances, like arsenic, benzoic acid, etc., which do not exhibit a liquid form on heating, except under increased pressure.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Sublime" Quotes from Famous Books



... Unconsciously Sprudell groaned. To die bravely in the sight of a crowd was sublime; but to perish alone, unnoted, side by side with the Chinese cook and chiefly for want of trousers in which to escape, was ignominious. He snatched his cold feet from the middle ...
— The Man from the Bitter Roots • Caroline Lockhart
... dechirer."[279] If Scott had to make an effort in writing the review, he made it with abundant energy. Some absurdities are indeed mentioned, but various particular passages are characterized in the most enthusiastic way, with such phrases as "horribly sublime," "impressive and affecting," "reminds us of the Satan of Milton, yet stands the comparison," "all the gloomy power of Dante." It may be noted that Scott used Milton's name rather freely in comparisons, and that for Dante his admiration was altogether unimpassioned,[280] but the ...
— Sir Walter Scott as a Critic of Literature • Margaret Ball
... to marry an American wife is the most arduous profession in the world,' he cried. 'One has to combine the energy of the Universal Provider with the patience of an ambassador at the Sublime Porte.' ...
— The Explorer • W. Somerset Maugham
... voice, born in that far, clear time, Over thy single harp thy simple strain Attuned all life for Britain to the chime Of viking oars and the sea's dark refrain, And thine own beating heart, and the sublime Measure to which the moons and stars revolve Untroubled by the storms that, year by year, In ever-swelling symphonies still climb To embrace our growing world and to resolve Discords unknown to thee, In the infinite harmony Which ...
— The Lord of Misrule - And Other Poems • Alfred Noyes
... stars moved perpetually and according to law, they seriously thought they were beholding the gods. The stars as we conceive them are not in that sense perfect. But the order which nature does not cease to manifest is still typical of all order, and is sublime. It is from these regions of embodied law that intelligibility and power combined come to make their covenant with ...
— The Life of Reason • George Santayana


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