drug
/ˈdɹʌɡ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.87 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.
noun
A psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive, ingested for recreational use, such as cocaine.
verb
To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Aspirin is a drug that reduces pain, acts against inflammation and lowers body temperature."
- "The revenues from both brand-name drugs and generic drugs have increased."
- "whence merchants bring their spicy drugs"
- "In the future, he says, a focus on the hate circuit may open new avenues for treatment – including new drugs and psychotherapies – that target this and other specific circuits in the brain."
- "We took drugs and partied all night."
- "They're on drugs."
Etymology
From Middle English drogge (“medicine”), from Middle French drogue, drocque (“tincture, pharmaceutical product”) (c. 1462), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German droge, as in droge vate (“dry vats, dry barrels”), mistaking droge for the contents, which were usually dried herbs, plants or wares. Droge comes from Middle Dutch drōghe (“dry”), from Old Dutch drōgi (“dry”), from Proto-Germanic *draugiz (“dry, hard”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“to strengthen; become hard or solid”), from *dʰer- (“to hold, hold fast, support”). Displaced native Old English lybb (“drug, medicine”). Cognate with English dry, Dutch droog (“dry”), German trocken (“dry”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɹʌɡ/
- British English: /ˈdɹʌɡ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Synonyms
conservatory
drug
medication
medicine
medicament
pharmaceutical
pharmaceutical drug
recreational drug
dope
gear
horse
stuff