opiate
Americannoun
-
Biochemistry, Pharmacology. a drug containing opium or its derivatives, used in medicine for inducing sleep and relieving pain.
The opium poppy yields morphine, codeine, and other opiates.
-
Biochemistry, Pharmacology. any sedative, soporific, or narcotic.
Back then, the country physician would concoct all sorts of opiates in a crude kitchen laboratory.
- Synonyms:
- drug
- Antonyms:
- stimulant
-
anything that causes dullness or inaction or that soothes the feelings.
His favorite opiate seems to be a six-pack in front of the TV.
- Synonyms:
- anodyne
adjective
-
Biochemistry, Pharmacology. mixed or prepared with opium.
Some opiate substances, such as thebaine, may be more toxic than narcotic.
-
Biochemistry, Pharmacology. inducing sleep; soporific; narcotic.
Subjects were given a variety of opiate teas over the course of a four-week study.
- Synonyms:
- sedative
-
causing dullness or inaction.
The opiate effects of their droning reprimands were legendary.
verb (used with object)
-
to subject to an opiate; stupefy.
The violent patients were routinely opiated.
-
to dull or deaden.
This dreadful music is opiating my spirit.
noun
-
any of various narcotic drugs, such as morphine and heroin, that act on opioid receptors
-
any other narcotic or sedative drug
-
something that soothes, deadens, or induces sleep
adjective
-
containing or consisting of opium
-
inducing relaxation; soporific
verb
-
to treat with an opiate
-
to dull or deaden
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of opiate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French, from Medieval Latin opiātus “bringing sleep,” equivalent to Latin opi(um) “poppy juice” + adjective suffix -ātus; see origin at opium, -ate 1
Explanation
An opiate is a drug such as morphine or heroin that is derived from opium. Used figuratively, it means something that calms or soothes. Karl Marx famously said that religion was the opiate of the masses, which means he thought that it was religion that prevented working-class people from rising up against their leaders. Today, you might say that television has replaced religion as a mass opiate, but you'd need to say that during a commercial for anyone to pay much attention.
Vocabulary lists containing opiate
Freak the Mighty
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100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Scythe
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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:
But fame has a way of upgrading your perception of everything it touches; it installs a gloss that no one likes to revoke — the illusion it supplies is too effective an opiate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
This kind of faith — shared by many faiths — is not an opiate or a self-help manual.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2022
If sports don't trump religion as the opiate of the masses, they have, until recently, been at least the background music of most of our lives.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2020
Sir Peter was also criticised by family members of patients who died after being given opiate drugs at Gosport War Memorial Hospital between 1987 and 2001.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2020
Both of them overburdened and ill-equipped, weak by nature or circumstance, married to strong-willed, selfish men, addicted to the opiate of sleep.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Bonus: I need no more arthritis meds, no more opiates, no more braces and no cane.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
Finally, he has cited several global issues—food security, climate change, pandemics, the spread of opiates, and the perils of artificial intelligence—that can be solved only through U.S.-China cooperation.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2023
In activating these receptors, opiates prevent neurotransmitter release, thus blocking the transmission of the pain message to spinal cord neurons.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 10, 2021
I went on to endure three more attacks all endured with no opiates.
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2018
The pillow smells of his lime pomade and she breathes it in, sobbing . . . . . . until, drugged by weeping’s opiates, she falls asleep.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
