sedate
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sedate
- /sɪˈdeɪt/ UK
- /səˈdeɪt/ US
Rhymes with -eɪt
Where it comes from
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English sedate (“not painful or sore”), and directly from its etymon Latin sēdātus (“calm, quiet, composed”), participial adjective from sēdō (“to allay, appease, calm, settle; to end, stop”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”). Compare English -ate (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘characterized by [the thing specified]’).
The verb is partly derived from sēdāt-, a participial stem of sēdō (verb sense 2—“to make (someone or something) calm”; see above), and partly a back-formation from sedation (verb sense 1—“to give (a person) a sedative”) + English -ate (suffix forming verbs). It is first attested slightly later than the adjective.
adjective more sedate · sedater · most sedate · sedatest
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Of a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected by activity or excitement.
[I]f they vvill raſhly huddle up all together, and not admitting the leaſt check of a ſedate judgement, publiſh onely the impetuous dictates of their indiſcreet and too precipitant fancie, either yielding nothing, or ſuffering a licentious practice of all things; vve muſt put them in mind of that St
Similar: collected, cool, placid, staid, unruffled, calm, steady, composed, cool-headed, equable, equanimous, equanimitable · Opposite: unsedate
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Of an object, particularly a building: not overly ornate or showy; not having a strong colour or design.
Sometimes she passed down avenues of sedate mansions, soberly numbered 'one,' 'two,' 'three,' and so on right up to two or three hundred, each the copy of the other, with two pillars and six steps and a pair of curtains neatly drawn […] until her mind was dizzied with the monotony.
Similar: unobtrusive · Opposite: obtrusive
- Of writing: not emotional; calm, composed.
- Of one's mind, thoughts, etc.: calm, sober. [A] Scepticiſm, that's the only vvay to Science. But yet this is ſo difficult in the impartial and exact performance, that it may be vvell reckon'd among the bare Poſsibilities, vvhich never commence into a Futurity: It requiring ſuch a free, ſedate, and intent minde, as it may be no vvhere found bu
- Of an object: not moving; at rest, quiet, still; also, moving smoothly and steadily. [T]he river vvhich before vvas ſtraight, ſhe [Nitocris] made crooked vvith great vvindings, that it might be more ſedate and leſs apt to overflovv.
verb sedates · sedating · sedated
- To give (a person) a sedative to calm them or put them to sleep; to tranquilize. Though he may have been sedated, he knew I was there, knew who I was, knew I was talking to him.
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To make (someone or something) calm or tranquil; to assuage, to calm, to soothe.
Did matter contend with matter, what confusion would it produce? whilst the mind and soul of man sedate the hostility, and bring it to due obedience, as being a power abstracted, a distinct and immaterial principle.
Similar: tranquilize
Translations
Every language
adj of a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected by activity or excitement
| Русский | споко́йный spokójnyj, степе́нный stepénnyj, уравнове́шенный uravnovéšennyj |
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Talk about this word "sedate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sedate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sedate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sedate "sedate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sedate.Cite this
@misc{sedate_2026,
title = {sedate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sedate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
