VocabauraVOCABAURA

drug

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

druhg
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdɹʌɡ

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. pharmacology

    A substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic

  2. A psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive, ingested for recreational use, such as cocaine.

  3. by extension

    Anything, such as a substance, emotion, or action, to which one is addicted.

  4. pharmacology

    A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.

  5. Any commodity that lies on hand, or is not salable; an article of slow sale, or in no demand.

verb

  1. transitive

    To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent.

  2. transitive

    To add intoxicating drugs to with the intention of drugging someone.

  3. intransitive

    To prescribe or administer drugs or medicines.

  4. Use recreational drugs

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent.

Used this way, drug is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

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

More ways to use drug

  • “The doctor prescribed a new drug to help with her allergy symptoms.”verb

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “drug”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Substance

drug usedrug abuse

Anything

drug addicts

Commodity

drug store

Other combinations

drug addictiondrug deliveryprescription drugdrug administration

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • drug baronnounCompound term

    A person who controls an organization dealing in illegal drugs.

  • drug bustnounCompound term

    Seizure of illegal drugs by the police.

  • drug cartelnounCompound term

    An illicit cartel formed to control the production and distribution of narcotic drugs.

  • drug cocktailnounCompound term

    A combination of protease inhibitors taken with reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

  • drug companynounCompound term

    A company that makes and sells pharmaceuticals.

  • drug dealernounCompound term

    An unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to administer intoxicating drugs to

dose

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “drug” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

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.