drug
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drug¹
- /ˈdɹʌɡ/ US, UK
- [ˈdɹ̝ʷʌɡ] US, UK
- [ˈd̠ɹ̠˔ʷʌɡ] US, UK
- /dɹɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /dɹʊɡ/ Northern England
- /ˈdɾʌɡ/ Scotland, Wales
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
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”).
noun drugs
-
A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.
Aspirin is a drug that reduces pain, acts against inflammation and lowers body temperature.
Similar: conservatory, drug, medication, medicine, medicament, pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical drug
-
A psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive, ingested for recreational use, such as cocaine.
We took drugs and partied all night.
Similar: recreational drug, drug, dope, gear, horse, stuff, substance
- Anything, such as a substance, emotion, or action, to which one is addicted. Oh, get that buzz / Love is the drug / I'm thinking of
- Any commodity that lies on hand, or is not salable; an article of slow sale, or in no demand. And virtue shall a drug become.
- Ellipsis of drugstore “I’ll go this far,” I answered him. “We’ll try going over to the drug. You, me, Ollie if he wants to go, one or two others. Then we’ll talk it over again.”
verb drugs · drugging · drugged
- To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent. She suddenly felt strange, and only then realized she'd been drugged.
- To add intoxicating drugs to with the intention of drugging someone. She suddenly felt strange. She realized her drink must have been drugged.
- To prescribe or administer drugs or medicines. Past all the doses of your drugging doctors
- To use intoxicating drugs. To soften the blow from working in such unfamiliar territory, I drank and drugged at the end of the day.
drug²
- /ˈdɹʌɡ/ US, UK
- [ˈdɹ̝ʷʌɡ] US, UK
- [ˈd̠ɹ̠˔ʷʌɡ] US, UK
- /dɹɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /dɹʊɡ/ Northern England
- /ˈdɾʌɡ/ Scotland, Wales
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
Germanic ablaut formation. If old, a doublet of drew, from Middle English drug, drog, drugh, drogh, from Old English drōg, from Proto-Germanic *drōg; compare Dutch droeg, German trug, Swedish drog. If secondary, probably formed by analogy with dug.
verb
- simple past and past participle of drag You look like someone drug you behind a horse for half a mile.
drug³
- /ˈdɹʌɡ/ US, UK
- [ˈdɹ̝ʷʌɡ] US, UK
- [ˈd̠ɹ̠˔ʷʌɡ] US, UK
- /dɹɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /dɹʊɡ/ Northern England
- /ˈdɾʌɡ/ Scotland, Wales
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
noun drugs
- A drudge. Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded / The sweet degrees that this brief world affords / To such as may the passive drugs of it / Freely command, thou wouldst have plunged thyself / In general riot
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: dose, do drugs, medicine, pharmaceutical, medication, dosage, pharmacist, prescription, drugmaker, pharmacy, pharmacological, medicate, pharmacotherapy, pharmacovigilance, pharmacology, pharma
Translations
Every language
noun psychoactive substance ingested for recreational use, especially illegal and addictive one
| Español | droga, narcótico |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 마약 mayak |
| 日本語 | 麻薬 mayaku, 薬物 |
| 中文 | 毒品 dúpǐn, 麻醉品 mázuìpǐn, 麻醉 mázuì, 麻藥 /麻药 máyào, 麻醉劑 /麻醉剂 mázuìjì |
| हिन्दी | मादक mādak, नशा naśā |
| Kiswahili | dawa ya kulevya |
| Português | droga, narcótico |
| Français | drogue |
| Deutsch | Droge, Rauschgift, Rauschmittel, Betäubungsmittel |
| Italiano | droga, stupefacente |
| Ελληνικά | ναρκωτικό narkotikó |
| Română | drog, narcotică |
| Русский | нарко́тик narkótik, наркота́ narkotá, дурь durʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | ma túy |
| العربية | مُخَدِّر muḵaddir |
| עברית | סַם sam |
noun substance used as a medical treatment — see also medicine
| Español | droga, fármaco |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 薬 kusuri, 医薬品 iyakuhin, 薬剤 yakuzai |
| 中文 | 藥 /药 yào, 藥材 /药材 yàocái, 藥物 /药物 yàowù, 藥品 /药品 yàopǐn |
| Kiswahili | dawa, dawa ya famasia |
| Français | drogue |
| Deutsch | Arznei, Droge, Medikament |
| Ελληνικά | φάρμακο fármako |
| Русский | лека́рство lekárstvo |
| العربية | عَقَّار ʕaqqār |
| עברית | סַם sam |
verb to administer intoxicating drugs
| Español | drogar, endrogar, pichicatear |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 下毒 xiàdú, 下藥 /下药 xiàyào |
| Português | drogar |
| Français | droguer |
| Ελληνικά | ναρκώνω narkóno |
| Română | droga |
| Русский | нака́чивать nakáčivatʹ, накача́ть pf наркотиками nakačátʹ |
| עברית | סִמֵּם simém |
verb to add intoxicating drugs to something
| Italiano | drogare |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | βάζω ναρκωτικό vázo narkotikó |
verb to use intoxicating drugs
| Español | drogarse, endrogarse, pichicatearse |
|---|
Talk about this word "drug." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/drug. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. drug. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/drug "drug." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/drug.Cite this
@misc{drug_2026,
title = {drug},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/drug},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
