v. [f. SOBER a. + -IZE.]
1. trans. To make sober, in various senses. Also absol.
1706. E. Ward, Hud. Rediv. (1707), II. VII. 16. Nor is the Cant of Moderation Design’d to soberrize the Nation.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1811), IV. xxxvi. 245. The instant I beheld her I was soberized into awe and reverence.
1798. Anna Seward, Lett. (1811), V. 176. The ensuing stanza, though soberized, is very good.
1819. Crabbe, Tales of Hall, vi. 387. I was thankful for the moral sight, That soberized the vast and wild delight.
1867. Morning Star, 12 March. Much soberised in mind, most of them have returned to Cork.
2. intr. To become sober.
1831. Fraser’s Mag., III. 67. He … emptied his bottle,… sowed his wild oats,… soberized.
Hence Soberized, Soberizing ppl. adjs.
1840. Lady C. Bury, Hist. of Flirt, viii. A quiet soberized look.
1860. Miss F. R. Havergal, Autobiogr., in Life (1880), 88. A soberizing thoughtful time.
