pharmaceutical
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of pharmaceutical
First recorded in 1640–50; pharmaceutic(s) + -al 1
Explanation
A pharmaceutical is any kind of drug used for medicinal purposes, like cough syrup or sleeping pills. You may have heard of a pharmacy, which is a place where you can buy medicinal drugs, or a pharmacist, which is a person who prepares those drugs. In general, a pharmaceutical is anything related to pharmacies or pharmacists, though it especially refers to the kinds of medicines that they sell. Pharmaceuticals are often contrasted with what are called recreational drugs, which are the illegal kind that are generally used for entertainment purposes rather than to help heal the body.
Vocabulary lists containing pharmaceutical
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 12–November 18, 2022
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 11–May 17, 2025
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Pharmacy Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The U.S. pharmaceutical company said its pill Foundayo was associated with significant weight loss in women at every stage of menopause, in a release Sunday.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Two additional pharmaceutical company-sponsored trials produced different results, with carriers and non-carriers responding similarly.
From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2026
One of them, a 69-year-old retired pharmaceutical microbiologist from Maryland named Robert Gerber, told me he once sold Florsheims at a suburban mall while attending college at Drexel University.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2026
Martin Arès, CEO of the Canadian pharmaceutical company Apotex, said he was exploring ways to bring his generic product to Americans now that it had been tentatively approved by the FDA.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
Thus, if one is not permitted to grow such a crop on private premises by law, such pharmaceutical farming initiatives are forbidden.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
