tranquilizer

American  

[trang-kwuh-lahy-zer] / ˈtræŋ kwəˌlaɪ zər /

Or tranquillizer

noun

1. a person or thing that tranquilizes.

2. a drug that has a sedative or calming effect without inducing sleep.

3. antianxiety drug.

4. antipsychotic.

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Etymology

Origin of tranquilizer

First recorded in 1790–1800; tranquilize + -er ¹

Explanation

A medication that's used to relax patients is called a tranquilizer. If someone suffers from severe anxiety, their doctor might prescribe a tranquilizer. The word tranquilizer is commonly used for anti-anxiety or anti-psychotic drugs, but it's not the term most medical professionals use. They are much more likely to use sedative, neuroleptic, or anxiolytic for a calming medication. Tranquilizer, from tranquility or "the state of being calm," was first used for sedatives in 1824, and for anti-anxiety drugs in 1954.

Example Sentences

You’d have needed a tranquilizer gun to keep him from chasing after the next story, and the next, and he was still telling stories until his death in 2015.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2025

Veterinarians and rangers held the rhino’s head above water with a rope to stop it from drowning while a tranquilizer reversal drug took effect, and the rhino was released.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 14, 2024

It's called xylazine, a commonly-used animal tranquilizer veterinarians routinely employ in their practice.

From Salon • Dec. 20, 2023

Officers scrambled to a veterinarian to get a tranquilizer gun and doses of the sedative, only to find that they did not need them.

From Washington Times • Oct. 27, 2023

He grew accustomed to the uneasy octopus that lived inside him and squirted its inky tranquilizer on his past.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Related Words

• opiate
• sedative