sublime

verb

1. 1

   Synonym of sublimate. To heat (a substance) in a container so as to convert it into a gas which then condenses in solid form on cooler parts of the container; (generally) to change (a solid substance) into a gas without breaking down or passing through the liquid state by heating it gently.

   Sub[tle]. […] VVho are you? Ana[nias]. A faithfull Brother, if it pleaſe you. Sub. VVhat's that? A Lullianiſt? a Ripley? Filius artis? Can you ſublime, and dulcefie?

   The aſhes either of Pit-Coal, or Sea-Coal, make no Efferveſcence vvith Alkalies or Acids. VVhence the ſaline Principle is altogether volatile, and ſublimed avvay by the fire.

2. 2

   archaicSynonym of sublimate. To obtain or purify (a substance) in this manner.

   [I]t [niter, or sodium carbonate] Calcineth, Sublimeth and Diſſolveth Minerals and Metals.

3. 3

   figurativeTo raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt.

   Thoſe vvords vvhich doe ſublime the quinteſſence of bliſſe, […]

   Miſtris Medulla, the Sunne of honour ſhine upon your hopes, till it ſublime you to a Ladiſhip: I vvill attend you preſently.

   [W]e may finde […] that confirmation in grace, I say, by which free will is transfigured and sublimed into a state divine; […]

   [B]y his [Jesus's] preſence he alſo hallovved marriage, and made it honourable, not onely in a civill account, and the rites of Heraldry, but in a ſpirituall ſenſe, he having nevv ſublim'd it by making it a Sacramentall repreſentment of the union of Chriſt and his Spouſe the Church.

4. 4

   obsoleteTo cause (someone or something) to ascend; to raise (someone or something) to a high position.

   I am ſublim'd! groſſe earth Supports me not. I vvalk on ayr!

   But thou (dear Vine) forbid'ſt me to be long, Although thy Trunk be neither large, nor ſtrong, Nor can thy Head (not helpt) it ſelf ſublime, Yet like a Serpent, a tall Tree can climb, […]

   Formerly, to attack a community intrenched in laws, customs, institutions, and beliefs, required dauntless courage—a soul sublimed by an idea above the region of vanity and conceit—a character resolutely facing responsibilities it clearly realized, and especially a penetrating vision into the spirit and heart of the objects assailed.

5. 5

   obsoleteTo cause (juice or sap) to rise in a plant.

   [Camfire, i.e., camphor] ſeemeth plainely to be ſo made by art, being caſt as it vvere or ſublimed into broad round pans or diſhes and little above the thickneſſe of ones thumbe, […]

6. 6

   obsoleteEspecially of the sun: to heat (something) and cause vapours, etc., to rise from it.

   Some the French VVriters, ſome our ovvn deſpiſe; The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize: […] Meanly they ſeek the Bleſſing to confine, And force that Sun but on a Part to Shine; VVhich not alone the Southern VVit ſublimes, But ripens Spirits in cold Northern Climes; […]

   [O]n the swamps of the Caroni the malarious fog hung motionless in long straight lines, waiting for the first blaze of sunrise to sublime it and its invisible poisons into the upper air, where it would be swept off, harmless, by the trade-wind which rushed along half a mile above our heads.

7. 7

   obsoleteTo purify (someone) from a bad influence or from sin.

8. 8

   obsoleteTo raise (someone) to a high office or status; to dignify, to exalt.

   Thou Vermine, haue I tane thee, out of dung, […] Sublim'd thee, and exalted thee, and fix'd thee I'the third region, the high ſtate of grace?

9. 9

   obsoleteTo raise (a physical thing) to a state of excellence; to improve.

   [I]t [bread used for communion] is made 'sacramental and eucharistical,' and so it is sublimed to become the body of Christ. But it is natural food still, […]

   [F]lours and thir fruit Mans nouriſhment, by gradual ſcale ſublim'd To vital Spirits aſpire, […]

   [T]hat ſpiritual Subſtance vvas analogous to Matter infinitely rarefied, refin'd or ſublim'd: Then, in the Geometrical Manner of conſidering ſuch reſpective Qualities and their Subject, Body infinitely rarefied, refin'd and ſublim'd, vvould at laſt terminat in limited Space or Expanſion; […]

   Ring for your valet—bid him quickly bring Some hock and soda-water, then you'll know […] For not the blest sherbet, sublimed with snow, […] After long travel, ennui, love, or slaughter, Vie with that draught of hock and soda-water.

10. 10

    Synonym of sublimate. Of a substance: to change from a solid into a gas without passing through the liquid state, with or without being heated.

    Then diſtil it, and you ſhall have a Philoſophical ☿ [mercury], and what Sublimeth is the Sulphur, which keep apart.

11. 11

    Synonym of sublimate. Of a substance: to change from a gas into a solid without passing through the liquid state.

12. 12

    figurativeTo become higher in quality or status; to improve.

adjective

1. 1

   archaicHigh, tall, towering; also, positioned in a high place; high-up, lofty.

   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. 2

   figurativeOf an aspect of art or nature: causing awe or deep respect due to its beauty or magnificence; awe-inspiring, impressive.

   sublime scenery

   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. 3

   figurativeOf flight: ascending, soaring.

4. 4

   figurativeOf an idea or other thing: requiring great intellectual effort to appreciate or understand; very elevated, refined, or subtle.

5. 5

   figurativeOf language, style, or writing: expressing opinions in a grand way.

6. 6

   figurativeOf a person or their actions or qualities: intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior.

   a sublime deed

   Know how sublime a thing it is, To suffer and be strong.

   Crown Him the Lord of Years! The Potentate of Time,— Creator of the rolling spheres, Ineffably sublime!

   You know, when I first met you, Claire, I thought that here might finally be a chance for me to be a class-act for once. To develop something sublime about myself. Well fuck sublime, Claire. I don't want dainty little moments of insight. I want everything and I want it now.

7. 7

   figurativeOf 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.

   the Sublime Porte

8. 8

   figurativeOf a thing: consummate, perfect; (informal, loosely) excellent, marvellous, wonderful.

   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.

   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. 9

   archaicOf a person: dignified, majestic, noble.

   the sublime Julian leader

10. 10

    archaicOf a person: haughty, proud.

    countenance sublime and insolent

    His fair large Front and Eye ſublime declar'd Abſolute rule;

11. 11

    figurativeComplete, downright, utter.

    He is behaving like a sublime idiot.

12. 12

    figurativeElevated by joy; elated.

    While thir hearts were jocund and ſublime, Drunk with Idolatry, drunk with Wine,

13. 13

    figurativeOf a substance: purified, refined; hence, of the highest quality.

14. 14

    obsoleteOf arms: lifted up, raised.

15. 15

    obsoleteOf a muscle (especially the flexor digitorum superficialis muscle of the forearm which lies above the flexor digitorum profundus muscle): positioned above another muscle; superficial.

16. 16

    obsoleteOf breathing: very laboured.

noun

1. 1

   archaicSomething which is sublime; a sublimity.

   Car[los]. VVhat is your opinion of the Play? Yo[ung] Mag[got]. […] There are a great many ſublimes that are very Poetical.

   [S]ince there are tvvo ſorts of Sublimes, the one of Nonſence, and the other of Eloquence, I vvill not take upon me to judge to vvhich of theſe this belongs.

   Novv, vvhat a fine Opportunity vvas here of introducing his Story, in all the Blaze and Terror of anxious and diſordered Nature? VVith vvhat a Sublime might that Flaſh of Lightning have been brought in, to grace the approaching Ruin, […]

2. 2

   archaicIn the form the sublime of: the highest degree; the acme, the height.

   No solemn, antique gentleman of rhyme, Who having angled all his life for fame, And getting but a nibble at a time, Still fussily keeps fishing on, the same Small "Triton of the minnows," the sublime Of mediocrity, the furious tame, […]

3. 3

   Chiefly preceded by the. An aspect of art or nature which causes awe or deep respect due to its beauty or magnificence; hence, the great beauty or magnificence of a place, a thing, etc.

   [T]he vvhole capacity of the eye, vibrating in all its parts muſt approach near to the nature of vvhat cauſes pain, and conſequently muſt produce an idea of the ſublime. Or if vve take it, that one point only of an object is diſtinguiſhable at oince; the matter vvill amount nearly to the ſame thing, or rather it vvill make the origin of the ſublime from greatneſs of dimenſion yet clearer.

   [Our old meeting house's] double row of windows, of which I knew the number by heart, its doors with great wooden quirls over them, its belfry projecting out that the east end, its steeple and bell, all inspired as much sense of the sublime in me as Stratsburg Cathedral itself, and the inside was not a whit less imposing.

4. 4

   Chiefly preceded by the. A style of language or writing which expresses opinions in a grand way.

   And, after, feigning pique at what she call'd The raillery, or grotesque, or false sublime— Like one that wishes at a dance to change The music—clapt her hands and cried for war, Or some grand fight to kill and make an end: […]

5. 5

   Chiefly preceded by the. That which is intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior in human life or human nature.

   The ſublime and the ridiculous are often ſo nearly related, that it is difficult to claſs them ſeparately. One ſtep above the ſublime, makes the ridiculous; and one ſtep above the ridiculous, makes the ſublime again.

   There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime. What was it—I paused to think—what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher?

   For Asa Skinner was a man possessed of a belief, of that sentiment of the sublime before which all inequalities are leveled, that transport of conviction which seems superior to all laws of condition, under which debauchees have become martyrs; which made a tinker an artist and a camel-driver the founder of an empire.

6. 6

   archaicThe quality or state of being sublime; sublimeness, sublimity.

   [W]hatever VVord or Sentence is Printed in a different Character, ſhall be judged to contain ſomething extraordinary either of VVit or Sublime.

Forms

plural

sublimes

comparative

sublimer

superlative

sublimest

past tense

sublimed

past participle

sublimed

present participle

subliming

third person singular

sublimes