From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsobrietyso‧bri‧e‧ty /səˈbraɪəti/ noun [uncountable] formal 1 when someone is not drunk John had periods of sobriety, but always went back to drinking.2 SERIOUS/NOT JOKINGbehaviour that shows a serious attitude to life
Examples from the Corpus
sobriety• When he was through, Tip sensed the awkward sobriety that had overcome his table.• But, employing the commercial sobriety for which they were being approached, they all refused.• Mortified by the twist in his sobriety, George decided to go the whole hog and join the Total Abstinence Society.• His sobriety and temperament are questionable.• And he'd been more unkind than usual in this odd period of sobriety.• Terry had many periods of sobriety, including eight years in the 1980s.• As for the teacher, in most eases, he behaves with a sense of sobriety.• Looking around the room, I was immediately struck by the sobriety of these undergraduates.• That was our one break with sobriety.Origin sobriety (1400-1500) Old French sobrieté, from Latin sobrietas, from sobrius; → SOBER1 