How to use sedate in a sentence

18 example sentences · adjective, verb

Sedate means of a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected by activity or excitement. Example: “The patient didn't want to be sedated, so we applied only local anesthesia.”

Examples of sedate by meaning

adjectiveOf a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected...

Then she saw that they were waving their handkerchiefs; dipping them up and down, with a curiously sedate, formal motion.1989, Hilary Mantel, chapter 9, in Fludd (A Owl Book), New York: Henry Holt and Company, published 2000, →ISBN, page 149

adjectiveOf an object, particularly a building: not overly ornate or showy; not having a strong colour or design.

The shiny carriages of Yankee officers' wives and newly rich Carpetbaggers splashed mud on the dilapidated buggies of the townspeople, and gaudy new homes of wealthy strangers crowded in among the sedate dwellings of older citizens.1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XXXVII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published June 1944, →OCLC...
Facing the Parliament Buildings across James’ Bay arose a sedate stone and cement Post Office.1942, Emily Carr, “Grown Up”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC; republished as The Book of Small (eBook...
The great hotel, with its look of sedate luxury, brooded massively there with people teeming about it.1985, Doris Lessing, The Good Terrorist, London: Jonathan Cape […], →ISBN, page 352

verbTo give (a person) a sedative to calm them or put them to sleep; to tranquilize.

Though he may have been sedated, he knew I was there, knew who I was, knew I was talking to him.1986–1989 (date written), J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee, “Part II”, in Age of Iron, London: Martin Secker & Warburg, published September 1990...

More sentences with sedate

The patient didn't want to be sedated, so we applied only local anesthesia.From the entry local
Even more sedate accounts agree that, like Thomas Cromwell, she was hacked about by a second-string executioner.2017, Hilary Mantel, “How Do We Know Her? The Secrets of Margaret Pole”, in Mantel Pieces, published 2020. From the entry hack about
Shirley was a lad of sixteen, sedate, sensible, thoughtful, full of a quiet humour.1921, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 2, in Rilla of Ingleside. From the entry Shirley
Her prescription sought to magically depaganize the root so that it would sedate the users, not excite them.2018, Thomas Hatsis, Psychedelic Mystery Traditions. From the entry depaganize
On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month.2013, Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street, spoken by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). From the entry quaalude
“Sam, can we see Pop now?” “Sure Kathy, but he’s been sedated and he’s on morphine to control the pain.2009, John W. Mangum, chapter 9, in Full Circle: 360°’s of Life, Sonoita, Ariz.: Running Iron Press, →ISBN, page 83. From the entry under
Orhan Gencebay, who implied in his arabesk that suffering would one day end, retained his image of sedate manliness.1997, Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey, University of Washington Press, page 223. From the entry arabesk
Early Sunday morning in Glasgow is often a sedate affair, with the city deserted due to the effects of 'liquermortis' after a hard night's partying.2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 76. From the entry partying
Its first movement is a sedate, haunting, almost melodramatic nocturne, but before too long the concerto changes gear and becomes energetic, discordant, feral.2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 137. From the entry nocturne
The soul leaves the sedated body and is free to travel, according to the not-exact testimony of numerous drugged-out Special K abusers.2013, Chuck Palahniuk, Doomed, page 58. From the entry Special K
For instance, non-benzodiazepines and low dose sedating anti-depressants, still considered as a first line of medication for the insomnia, are facing stiff competition from the generics.2020, Insomnia therapeutics Market Analysis, Coherent Insights, Summary. From the entry genericize
The main character is a disturbed young man who roams Pittsburgh by night, chemically sedating his victims with a syringe before razorblading their wrists and drinking their blood.2012, Charlie Brooker, I Can Make You Hate. From the entry razorblade
I saw my friends go into a room, an hour later they’d be in the lounge acting crazy: sedate as wandering death, completely inarticulate and just zombied-out.1984, Common Lives/Lesbian Lives, XI, page 33. From the entry zombied-out

Meaning of sedate

adjective Of a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected by activity or excitement.
adjective Of an object, particularly a building: not overly ornate or showy; not having a strong colour or design.
adjective Of writing: not emotional; calm, composed.

Full definition of sedate

Questions about sedate in a sentence

How do you use sedate in a sentence?: Sedate is used as an adjective and verb. For example: “The patient didn't want to be sedated, so we applied only local anesthesia.”
What is a short sentence with sedate?: “The patient didn't want to be sedated, so we applied only local anesthesia.”
What does sedate mean?: Sedate means of a person or animal, or their behaviour: calm and composed (often in a dignified manner), and avoiding or unaffected by activity or excitement.

Adapted from Wiktionary: sedate (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use sedate in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/sedate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.