pharmaceutical
Americanadjective
noun
-
pharmaceuticals
plural
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonpharmaceuticadjective
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nonpharmaceuticaladjective
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nonpharmaceuticallyadverb
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pharmaceuticallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Given the opportunity, competitors—including large pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly and Pfizer—have been racing to develop their own RAS-targeting pancreatic-cancer drugs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Iranian economic experts say both the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors also rely on imports from countries such as Brazil and Turkey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Tavneos is made by the US biotech firm Amgen and is sold by different partner pharmaceutical companies around the world.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Dutch pharmaceutical company Argenx was leading the index risers—up around 7.7%—after reporting positive trial results.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
I thought that pharmaceutical companies were probably always growing because more medications were constantly being developed; and the field of medicine was so rapidly advancing.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
"He had been tried on cocktails of anti-epileptic pharmaceuticals and they just weren't working" Charlotte said.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
“I don’t think the race is finished,” said Stephen Farrelly, global lead for pharmaceuticals and healthcare at Dutch bank ING Group.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Among its three core segments, vision care, its largest, saw a 4% increase in revenue, while surgical and pharmaceuticals rose 19% and 15%, respectively.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Danish pharmaceuticals heavyweight Novo Nordisk said Tuesday it is suing its arch US rival, Eli Lilly, over "false and materially misleading" adverts for their competing weight-loss and anti-diabetes treatments.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Tony’s business interests are diverse: waste management, luxury auto exports, pharmaceuticals, etc.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
