sublime
sub|lime /səbl'aɪm/
1 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
If you describe something as sublime, you mean that it has a wonderful quality that affects you deeply. (LITERARY)
Sublime music floats on a scented summer breeze to the spot where you lie.
[N-SING] the N
You can refer to sublime things as the sublime.
She elevated every rare small success to the sublime.
● sublimely [ADV] usu ADV adj
...the most sublimely beautiful of all living things.
[PHRASE] PHR after v
If you describe something as going from the sublime to the ridiculous, you mean that it involves a change from something very good or serious to something silly or unimportant.
At times the show veered from the sublime to the ridiculous.
2 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
You can use sublime to emphasize a quality that someone or something has, usually a quality that is undesirable or negative. (FORMAL or LITERARY)
The administration's sublime incompetence is probably temporary...
He displayed a sublime indifference to the distinction between right and wrong.
● sublimely [ADV] usu ADV adj
Mrs Trollope was sublimely uninterested in what she herself wore.
1 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
If you describe something as sublime, you mean that it has a wonderful quality that affects you deeply. (LITERARY)
Sublime music floats on a scented summer breeze to the spot where you lie.
[N-SING] the N
You can refer to sublime things as the sublime.
She elevated every rare small success to the sublime.
● sublimely [ADV] usu ADV adj
...the most sublimely beautiful of all living things.
[PHRASE] PHR after v
If you describe something as going from the sublime to the ridiculous, you mean that it involves a change from something very good or serious to something silly or unimportant.
At times the show veered from the sublime to the ridiculous.
2 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
You can use sublime to emphasize a quality that someone or something has, usually a quality that is undesirable or negative. (FORMAL or LITERARY)
The administration's sublime incompetence is probably temporary...
He displayed a sublime indifference to the distinction between right and wrong.
● sublimely [ADV] usu ADV adj
Mrs Trollope was sublimely uninterested in what she herself wore.