# sublime

> English word · Verb · IPA /səˈblaɪm/ · frequency rank #15,522

## Definitions
1. Synonym of sublimate.
2. Synonym of sublimate.
3. To raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt.
4. To cause (someone or something) to ascend; to raise (someone or something) to a high position.
5. To cause (juice or sap) to rise in a plant.
6. Especially of the sun: to heat (something) and cause vapours, etc., to rise from it.
7. To purify (someone) from a bad influence or from sin.
8. To raise (someone) to a high office or status; to dignify, to exalt.
9. To raise (a physical thing) to a state of excellence; to improve.
10. Synonym of sublimate.
11. Synonym of sublimate.
12. To become higher in quality or status; to improve.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *upó
Partly from the following:
* From Middle English sublimen, sublime, sublyme (“to exalt, extol, glorify, honour; (alchemy) to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; to obtain (a substance) by cooling vapour obtained through sublimation; to extract (a pure substance) from a mixture by sublimation; to sublimate (a substance)”), from Middle French sublimer, Old French sublimer (“to exalt, glorify, honour; to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; of a substance: to undergo sublimation”) (modern French sublimer), and from its etymon Latin sublīmāre, the present active infinitive of sublimō (“to elevate, raise; to soar”) (compare Late Latin sublimō (“to elevate, raise; to exalt, glorify, honour; to sublimate, vaporize”)), from sublīmis (“elevated, raised; exalted, uplifted, sublime; elevated in style”) (from sub- (prefix meaning ‘under; up to’) + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- (“to bend”) (whence Latin līmen (“threshold”) and līmus (“askew; sideways”))) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
* From sublime (adjective).
Cognates
* Catalan sublimar
* Italian sublimare
* Old Occitan sublimar
* Portuguese sublimar
* Spanish sublimar

## Easily confused with
- **subside** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sublime-vs-subside)
- **subprime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sublime-vs-subprime)
- **slime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slime-vs-sublime)

## Common misspellings (10)
`sbulime`, `ssublime`, `subblime`, `subilme`, `subliem`, `sublimme`, `subllime`, `sublmie`, `sulbime`, `usblime`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sublime