pharmaceutical
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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.
U.K. pharmaceutical giant GSK on Tuesday struck a $10.6 billion deal to buy U.S.-listed biotech company Nuvalent, its biggest acquisition in eight years as it seeks to bolster the cancer portfolio it had previously trimmed.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
New additions this year include a range of Chinese consumer and tech companies, including electric carmaker BYD, pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec and humanoid robotics company Unitree.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
The company noted that’s equivalent to one new prescription every five seconds—and one of the biggest U.S. pharmaceutical product launches in history.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
"It's very common for pharmaceutical companies to collect genetic data on their participants," she said.
From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2026
This means pharmaceutical companies, scientists, and universities control what research can be done on those genes, and how much resulting therapies and diagnostic tests will cost.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
