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dope

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Any of different recreational substances.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dohp
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdoʊp

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An opiate, now particularly heroin.

  2. Marijuana.

  3. An ignorant or foolish person

  4. uncountable

    Any viscous liquid or paste, such as a lubricant, used in preparing a surface.

  5. uncountable

    An absorbent material used to hold a liquid.

  6. uncountableslang

    Information, usually from an inside source, originally in horse racing and other sports.

verb

  1. Take drugs to improve one's athletic performance

  2. transitiveslang

    To affect with drugs.

  3. transitive

    To treat with dope (lubricant, etc.).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any of various recreational substances

Used this way, dope is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Very casual
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Playful
Usage feel
Playful and informal

Where it naturally appears

  • Everyday conversation
  • Social media/informal writing

Usage note

Slang: natural in speech and messages between friends, but out of place in school, work or published writing.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

dope fiendsmoke dopedope addictdope sheetsome dopedope dealerselling dopesmoked dope

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • dope offverbCompound term

    Change from a waking to a sleeping state.

  • dope sheetnounCompound term

    A racing publication giving information on horses and the outcomes of horse races.

  • dope upverbCompound term

    Give a narcotic to.

  • rope-a-dopenounCompound term

    A boxing tactic: pretending to be trapped against the ropes while your opponent wears himself out throwing punches.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.