sub•lime
Pronunciation: (su-blīm'), [key]
— adj., n., v., -limed, -lim•ing.
—adj.
- elevated or lofty in thought, language, etc.: Paradise Lost is sublime poetry.
- impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration, etc.: Switzerland has sublime scenery.
- supreme or outstanding: a sublime dinner.
- complete; absolute; utter: sublime stupidity.
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- of lofty bearing.
- haughty.
- raised high; high up.
—n.
- the sublime in art.
- the realm of things that are sublime:the sublime in art.
- the quality of sublimity.
- the greatest or supreme degree.
—v.t.
- to make higher, nobler, or purer.
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- to convert (a solid substance) by heat into a vapor, which on cooling condenses again to solid form, without apparent liquefaction.
- to cause to be given off by this or some analogous process.
—v.i.
- to volatilize from the solid state to a gas, and then condense again as a solid without passing through the liquid state.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.