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pharmacology

noun

Simple meaning

The science or study of drugs: their preparation and properties and uses and effects.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fahrmuhkahluhjee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

fɑɹməˈkɑlədʒi

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. The science or study of drugs: their preparation and properties and uses and effects

  2. The science of drugs, including their origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use, and toxicology.

  3. The properties and reactions of a given drug, especially with relation to its therapeutic value.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: The science or study of drugs: their preparation and properties and uses and effects

Used this way, pharmacology is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in science contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Science

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

More ways to use pharmacology

  • “She is studying pharmacology to become a research scientist.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

experimental pharmacologymolecular pharmacologybiochemical pharmacologyapplied pharmacologybehavioral pharmacologygeneral pharmacologybasic pharmacologypharmacology department

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • pharmacistnounPerson or profession

    A health professional trained in the art of preparing and dispensing drugs.

  • pharmacynounDerived noun · specialist

    The art and science of preparing and dispensing drugs and medicines,.

  • pharmacologicaladjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to the science or study of drugs: their preparation and properties and uses and effects.

  • pharmacologicadjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to the science or study of drugs: their preparation and properties and uses and effects.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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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.