Edmund White

I lived through the Fifties in the Midwest when everything that was happening - the repression of homosexuality, for instance, the demonization of the Left, the giggly, soporific ordinariness of adolescence, the stone-deafness to the social injustice all around us - seemed not only unobjectionable but also nonexistent.

American Novelist

Steve Kornacki

Mr. Giuliani's liabilities as a G.O.P. candidate were obvious. There was his well-documented history of cultural liberalism - on abortion, gay rights, immigration and gun control - which he tried, unsuccessfully, to mask. And then there was his style - bland, uninspiring, even soporific.

Sendhil Mullainathan

Web searching and cellphone use both flourish in the wee hours. Before the dawn of the web, I would stay up watching television. But there is something soporific about television: I would often nod off. Not so when I'm online. As technologies expand, these problems may only worsen.

American Economist

Describes something that makes you feel sleepy, not necessarily at bedtime.

Feeling Drowsy

Can be used positively for something calming or peacefully boring.

Not Always Negative

Often used in literature to enhance imagery of sleepiness or monotony.

Literary Use

Mainly used in medical or pharmaceutical contexts to refer to sleep medication.

Medical Context

Use this term in more formal or technical discussions about sleep aids.

Formal Term

It's not used in everyday conversation; 'sleeping pill' is more common.

Not for Everyday

 has such a soporific, even a narcoleptic effect on us? I think it's because the very word signifies something exceedingly virtuous, exceedingly important, and exceedingly boring. Well, I think it's the responsibility of people like us,

Soporific