fenfluramine

[ fen-floor-uh-meen ]

noun

, Pharmacology.

1. a sympathomimetic substance, C 12 H 16 F 3 N, formerly used mainly as an anorectic in the treatment of obesity but withdrawn from the market in 1997 because of its potential to cause valvular heart disease

Word History and Origins

Origin of fenfluramine¹

First recorded in 1965–70; by contraction, respelling and rearrangement of (trifluoromethyl)phenethylamine