soporific
UK /ˌsɒp.əˈɹɪf.ɪk/ · US /ˌsɑp.əˈɹɪf.ɪk/ noun, adjective
Forms soporifics soporifick
- noun (pharmacology) Something inducing sleep, especially a drug. “The doctor prescribed a soporific to help the patient sleep.”
- noun (figuratively) Something boring or dull.
- adjective (pharmacology) Tending to induce sleep.
- adjective (figuratively) Boring, dull. “The professor delivered a soporific lecture.”
Synonyms
banal basic mindless beat blah commonplace bland boring cold colourless corny drab stuffy dreich drowsy dull dull as dishwater flat heavy going ho-hum hypnotic soporiferous somniferous somnific hypnogogic hypnagogic narcotic
Antonyms
arousing enlivening invigorating provocative rousing stimulating
Etymology
From French soporifique, from Latin sopor (“deep sleep”). Unrelated to stupor (distinct in Proto-Indo-European).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Causing sleep; tending to cause sleep; soporiferous; as, the soporific virtues of opium.
- noun A medicine, drug, plant, or other agent that has the quality of inducing sleep; a narcotic.
Etymology [L. sopor a heavy sleep (akin to somnus sleep) + facere to make. See Somnolent, Fact.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “soporific”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details