Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

opiate

/ˈəʊpi.ət/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.89 in modern English

Syllables: opi-ate
IPA: /ˈəʊpi.ət/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Relating to, resembling, or containing opium.

adj

Soporific; inducing sleep or sedation.

adj

Deadening; causing apathy or dullness.

noun

A drug, hormone or other substance derived from or related to opium.

noun

Something that dulls the senses and induces a false and unrealistic sense of contentment.

verb

To treat with an opiate drug.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"They chose atheism as an opiate."
"The music—the fragrance of the flowers, whose odour was exhaling in the now falling dew—the languor of recent exertion—the sense of past dangers and present security—operated on Beatrice like the first and delicious stage of an opiate."

Etymology

From Middle English opiate, from Medieval Latin opiātus.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: opiate, opiātus

Usage

Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

opiates (plural) opiates (present, singular) opiating (participle, present) opiated (participle, past) opiated (past)

Derived Forms

antiopiate opiatelike opiatic utopiate

Frequently Paired Words

codeine morphine papaverine thebaine

Synonyms

opium

Questions

How do you pronounce opiate?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈəʊpi.ət/.
What does opiate mean?: Relating to, resembling, or containing opium.
Where does opiate come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce opiate

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “opiate”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈəʊpi.ət/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “opiate”.
Repeat and practice — Say “opiate” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.