pharmaceutical

American  

[fahr-muh-soo-ti-kuhl] / ˌfɑr məˈsu tɪ kəl /

Sometimes pharmaceutic

adjective

1. pertaining to pharmacy or pharmacists.

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noun

pharmaceuticals plural

1. a pharmaceutical preparation or product.

pharmaceutical British  

/ ˌfɑːməˈsjuːtɪkəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to drugs or pharmacy

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonpharmaceutic
  adjective
• nonpharmaceutical
  adjective
• nonpharmaceutically
  adverb
• pharmaceutically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pharmaceuticals
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pharmaceutical pharmaceuticals

Nearby hotels, shops, and apartments were immediately evacuated and streets closed to traffic, amid fears that the building, formerly the headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, might collapse.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

Imports of consumer goods rose in May, driven by batteries and battery chargers from China, and imports of pharmaceutical and medicinal products rose, mainly coming in from Germany, the U.S. and Spain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The market for weight-loss drugs in the U.S. doesn’t function like a traditional pharmaceutical category, like asthma or Type 2 diabetes.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

Zimbabwe also cited concerns about requests for medical data, presumably to be shared with US pharmaceutical companies, as the reason it rejected a deal.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

He had recently made a decision with his medical school that becoming a doctor was not in the cards for him, and he moved to the Bronx, where he worked as a pharmaceutical salesman.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore

Beyond obesity, they see opportunity for large-cap pharmaceuticals, which continue to generate resilient earnings growth even amid patent-expiry worries.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

The trimarans will deliver goods from pharmaceuticals to wine and cosmetics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

He said this includes pharmaceuticals which need to be manufactured in micro-gravity conditions before being parachuted to Earth.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

Quantum has the potential to move the needle on research in national security, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals and finance — areas, Newman explained, where outcomes can be “infinitely complex.”

From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026

Tony’s business interests are diverse: waste management, luxury auto exports, pharmaceuticals, etc.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Related Words

• medicine