A.Word.A.Day --soporific

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Today's Word

soporific

PRONUNCIATION:

(sop-uh-RIF-ik, suh-puh-)

MEANING:

adjective:	1. Inducing sleep.
	2. Sleepy or drowsy.
	3. Dull or monotonous.
noun:	Something that induces sleep.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin sopor (a deep sleep). Ultimately from the Indo-European root swep- (to sleep), which also gave us insomnia, hypnosis, soporose, somniloquy (talking while asleep), and somnambulate (to walk in sleep). Earliest documented use: 1690.

USAGE:

“I snoozed some more, full of bloat-inducing road food and my mother’s soporific prattle.”
Mickey J. Corrigan; Red Hot Blues; Wild Rose Press; 2014.

See more usage examples of soporific in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to prevent its ascendancy. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect, and author (13 Apr 1743-1826)

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