Word: sublime Part of Speech: adj Etymology: The adjective is derived from Middle French sublime (“admirable, excellent, perfect; placed in a high position; reaching a great height; of a person: of high office or rank”) (modern French sublime), and from its etymon Latin sublīmis, sublīmus (“elevated, raised; exalted, uplifted, sublime”, adjective): see etymology 1. The noun is derived from Middle French sublime (“elevated style in writing; quality in art or nature inspiring awe, reverence, etc.”) (modern French sublime), from the adjective: see further above. Cognates * Catalan sublim * Italian sublime * Portuguese sublime * Spanish sublime Pronunciation: /səˈblaɪm/ 1. High, tall, towering; also, positioned in a high place; high-up, lofty. Labels: archaic, obsolete, poetic Example: The Heroe, looking on the left, eſpy'd A lofty Tovv'r, and ſtrong on ev'ry ſide […] Vain is the force of Man, and Heav'ns as van, To cruſh the Pillars vvhich the Pile ſuſtain. Sublime on theſe a Tovv'r of Steel is rear'd; And dire Tiſiphone these keeps the VVard. 2. Of an aspect of art or nature: causing awe or deep respect due to its beauty or magnificence; awe-inspiring, impressive. Labels: figuratively Example: sublime scenery Example: We had entered the clouds. For half-an-hour we were muffled in a cold, damp mist, and total darkness, and had begun to think of going indoors when, all at once, the car burst into the pure and starlit region of the upper air. A cry of joyous admiration escaped from us all. The spectacle before us was indeed sublime. 3. Of flight: ascending, soaring. Labels: figuratively 4. Of an idea or other thing: requiring great intellectual effort to appreciate or understand; very elevated, refined, or subtle. Labels: figuratively 5. Of language, style, or writing: expressing opinions in a grand way. Labels: figuratively 6. Of a person or their actions or qualities: intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior. Labels: figuratively Example: a sublime deed Example: Know how sublime a thing it is, To suffer and be strong. 7. Of an office or status: very high; exalted; also, used as an honorific (often capitalized as Sublime) to refer to someone of high office or status, especially the Ottoman sultan; or to things associated with such a person. Labels: figuratively Example: the Sublime Porte 8. Of a thing: consummate, perfect; (informal, loosely) excellent, marvellous, wonderful. Labels: figuratively Example: Thy even Thoughts vvith ſo much Plainneſs flovv, Their Senſe untutor'd Infancy may knovv; Yet to ſuch height is all that Plainneſs vvrought, VVit may admire, and letter'd Pride be taught: Eaſie in VVords thy Style, in Senſe ſublime, On its bleſt Steps each Age and Sex may riſe, 'Tis like the Ladder in the Patriarch's Dream, Its foot on Earth, its height beyond the Skies. Example: Cigarettes are poison and they taste bad; they are not exactly beautiful, they are exactly sublime. The difference, to use the terms in which [Immanuel] Kant makes the distinction, means that smoking cigarettes gives rise to forms of aesthetic pleasure painfully at odds with the affect arising from the contemplation in tranquillity, say, of a well-wrought urn. 9. Of a person: dignified, majestic, noble. Labels: archaic, figuratively, poetic Example: the sublime Julian leader 10. Of a person: haughty, proud. Labels: archaic, figuratively, poetic Example: countenance sublime and insolent Example: His fair large Front and Eye ſublime declar'd Abſolute rule; 11. Complete, downright, utter. Labels: figuratively, informal Example: He is behaving like a sublime idiot. 12. Elevated by joy; elated. Labels: figuratively, obsolete Example: While thir hearts were jocund and ſublime, Drunk with Idolatry, drunk with Wine, 13. Of a substance: purified, refined; hence, of the highest quality. Labels: figuratively, obsolete 14. Of arms: lifted up, raised. Labels: obsolete, poetic, postpositional 15. Of a muscle (especially the flexor digitorum superficialis muscle of the forearm which lies above the flexor digitorum profundus muscle): positioned above another muscle; superficial. Labels: obsolete 16. Of breathing: very laboured. Labels: obsolete