adj.
(sublimer, sublimest)
- of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe.
- extreme or unparalleled:
the sublime confidence of youth.
v.
- Chemistry (with reference to a solid substance) change directly into vapour when heated, typically forming a solid deposit again on cooling.
- archaic elevate to a high degree of purity or excellence.
Derivative
- sublimely adv.
- sublimity n.
Etymology
C16 (in the sense ‘dignified, aloof’): from L. sublimis, from sub- ‘up to’ + a second element perh. rel. to limen ‘threshold’, limus ‘oblique’.