as in cosmopolitan
a person with the outlook, experience, and manners thought to be typical of big city dwellers
sophisticates laughing at people they thought of as hicks
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to complex
to make complex or difficult
there's no need to sophisticate something that is beautiful in its simplicity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to dilute
to alter (something) for the worse with the addition of foreign or lower-grade substances
vanilla extract that has been sophisticated with corn syrup
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sophisticate
Armond White, National Review, 9 July 2025
How things have changed: My interlocutor was one member of a large and diverse constituency of urban sophisticates who espouse comparable positions, not infrequently in the same gratingly defiant terms.
—Ian Volner, Artforum, 28 May 2025
Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
Here are six shirts, six stories, six ways to make the everyday dad shirt sophisticated.
—Alex Sales, Glamour, 17 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sophisticate
Noun
The Friend is Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s class-conscious lament for how urban sophisticates (Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, and a Great Dane) deny but can’t escape spiritual obligations.
—Armond White, National Review, 9 July 2025
How things have changed: My interlocutor was one member of a large and diverse constituency of urban sophisticates who espouse comparable positions, not infrequently in the same gratingly defiant terms.
—Ian Volner, Artforum, 28 May 2025
Verb
In the document, Anthropic argues that the question of consciousness and moral rights is necessary given the novel questions that sophisticated AI systems raise.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
Here are six shirts, six stories, six ways to make the everyday dad shirt sophisticated.
—Alex Sales, Glamour, 17 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sophisticate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sophisticate
Noun
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Alas, Jewish skeptics of Zionism who preferred to think of themselves as cosmopolitans found no reprieve.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
-
The adjective cosmopolitan only begins to describe Sajet, who has had important life experiences on four continents.—
Jim Higgins,
jsonline.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Give your plant orchid food or a balanced fertilizer diluted to half strength.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
13 Feb. 2026
-
The poetry of Brontë’s language is likewise diluted.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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At 5,300 years old, any of those explanations complicates the conventional picture of how sophisticated Predynastic Egyptian material science actually was.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
13 Feb. 2026
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Her recovery was complicated by the routine obstacles that govern all aspects of life at Dilley.—
Mike Hixenbaugh,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The spoon even comes with measuring lines for a teaspoon and tablespoon, saving you from having to dirty another utensil.—
Melanie Fincher,
Southern Living,
10 Feb. 2026
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The adventurous actress dirties up her frock and face to play the village pariah, who reeks of fish and would be no man’s idea of a suitable wife, except perhaps the one-eyed bum who sleeps in the town square.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Before long, it was loaded up with 100 whistles and placed on the front counter.—
Steve Lopez,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
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And the two front-runners are loading up.—
Adam Beam,
AJC.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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He was also sanctioned by the European Union in January 2019 following a nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, which the British government said was carried out by GRU agents to poison a former Russian spy.—
CNN's Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Children have been among those poisoned this year.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
By the time the crowd thinned, Lincoln’s hand was sore.—
Harold Holzer,
New York Daily News,
8 Feb. 2026
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The crowds had thinned, a table for lunch at the No Name Saloon was easy to acquire, and the dulcet tones of power tools filled the air as the Chase Sapphire Lounge was dismantled.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
In the men's singles final in figure skating, the NBC telecast just cut to a shot of American Max Naumov, who was juggling a soccer ball.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
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Catherine’s brother Hindley, a vicious bully whose abuse is part of what drives Cathy and Heathcliff so closely together, is cut entirely, his role combined with Catherine’s father.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sophisticate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sophisticate. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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