hard drug

noun

Pharmacology.

1. an addicting drug capable of producing severe physical or psychological dependence, as heroin.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hard drug¹

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70

Example Sentences

Similar worrying increases in the use of hard drugs by young people have been observed elsewhere in Europe, he added.

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The rules are as strict as they are simple, and in this topsy-turvy world, truly radical: no hard drugs, no crime, no racists, no abusers.

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It’s a perfect place and time for a novelist looking to establish a tense atmosphere: The dreamy, free-love atmosphere slowly curdled into hard drugs and the Manson murders.

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A few are also making memes of so-called “chicken dealers” whose illicit product of choice are cartons of eggs as opposed to hard drugs.

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Heroin and other hard drugs were a tour mainstay.

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Related Words

• anesthetic 
• dope 
• heroin 
• merchandise 
• opiate 
• opium 
• painkiller 
• sedative 
• tranquilizer