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sophisticate

sop·his·ti·cate

US/səˈfɪstɪkeɪt/ uncommon archaic obsolete
noun (1) verb (4)

noun

1.

verb

1.

make less natural or innocent

  • “Their manners had sophisticated the young girls”
2.
3.

alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive

  • “Sophisticate rose water with geraniol”
Synonyms
4.

make more complex or refined

  • “a sophisticated design”

Origin

From Middle English sophisticaten (“to mix (something) with a foreign or inferior substance, adulterate”), from Medieval Latin sophisticātus, the perfect passive participle of sophisticāre (“to disguise; to tamper with; to trick using words”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more). Sophisticāre is derived from Latin sophisticus (“pertaining to the ancient Sophists, sophistic; pertaining to sophistry, sophistic, sophistical”) (from Ancient Greek σοφιστικός (sophistikós), from σοφιστής (sophistḗs, “master of a craft; prudent or wise person; philosopher; teacher, tutor; (derogatory) one who profits from false wisdom, cheat, swindler”), from σοφός (sophós, “able, skilful; clever, intelligent, prudent, wise; cunning”), further etymology unknown) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). Cognates * French sophistiquer * Italian sofisticare * Spanish sofisticar

Phrases

  • sophisticated falsificationism

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Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.