Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SOPORIFIC

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pronounce SOPORIFIC: Say it "SOP uh RIFF ick." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: If something lulls you into stillness, you might call it hypnotic. If it lulls you out of your senses, you might call it an_s___tizing. And if it lulls you right to sleep, you might call it soporific. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: The word "soporific" traces back to a Latin one, sopor, meaning "deep sleep." It's been around in English for several hundred years. Something soporific makes you tired or sleepy. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Adjective: "a soporific effect;" "The heat was soporific." Other common forms:  The adverb is "soporifically." "Soporific" can also be a noun meaning "a drug that puts you to sleep." how to use it: You might pick this formal, semi-common word to describe something designed to help you fall asleep: "Trust me, if you're taking a soporific, go straight to bed and don't send any texts." Or, you might pick it to strike a formal tone as you describe soporific sights, sounds, smells, or other physical sensations: "Houston's soporific heat and humidity," "the soporific music wafting from the elevator," "the slow soporific rocking of the cruise ship." It also makes for a funny, mock-serious substitute for terms like "dull," "sleep-inducing," "boring as all get-out," etc. "The lecture was as thorough as it was soporific." Finally, you could say that something "has a soporific effect"--many writers do--but that strikes me as a little wordy. examples: "[The film] Diana, with its soporific romance and awful dialogue, is a colossal bore."    — Tina Brown, The Daily Beast, 4 November 2013 "His eyes grew heavy. The odor of a smouldering bough of balsam-fir hung in the air—warm, spicy, soporific. He slept."    — Van Tassel Sutphen, The Doomsman, 1905 has this page helped you understand "soporific"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "soporific" without saying "sleep-inducing" or "tranquilizing." try it out: In a review of Tom Krell's music, Jon Caramanica called it "soothing and haunting," "pure opiate," creating "the sort of womblike environment that's almost impossible to duplicate in real life." "It's soporific music," he concluded. I'm not sure I'd be very into Krell's music. But when I do need some soporific tunes, I like to put on the lullaby versions of classic Elton John songs. So soothing, and so soporific. How about you? If you're in the mood for soporific music, what song, album, or artist would you pick? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for March is "Yup, that's a real word." Check out the definition of a silly-sounding word--yes, a real one, from the Oxford English Dictionary--and see if you can come up with the word itself. To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Here's an example: "This three-syllable noun ending in the -ship suffix (as in 'friendship' and 'fellowship') means 'skill in traversing snow.'" The answer is "snowmanship." (Yup, that’s a real word!) Try this one today: You may have heard this one over and over in the news way back in 2006. It's a three-syllable noun meaning "the state of being a planet." review this word: 1. One opposite of SOPORIFIC is A. TERRIFYING. B. ENERGIZING. C. MOISTURIZING. 2. The rare word "sopor" means "a very deep _____, especially a morbid or unnatural one." A. sleep B. wound C. distress Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. A Answer to the game question: Planethood! Which Pluto was stripped of in 2006. Some of us are still sour about it. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.