tranquilizer
Americannoun
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tranquilizers
plural
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a person or thing that tranquilizes.
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a drug that has a sedative or calming effect without inducing sleep.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tranquilizer
First recorded in 1790–1800; tranquilize + -er 1
Explanation
A medication that's used to relax patients is called a tranquilizer. If someone suffers from severe anxiety, their doctor might prescribe a tranquilizer. The word tranquilizer is commonly used for anti-anxiety or anti-psychotic drugs, but it's not the term most medical professionals use. They are much more likely to use sedative, neuroleptic, or anxiolytic for a calming medication. Tranquilizer, from tranquility or "the state of being calm," was first used for sedatives in 1824, and for anti-anxiety drugs in 1954.
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:
The young intern who shot us with a tranquilizer dart and then inserted that inexact analysis apologizes.
From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2026
But in modern practice, “The Life of Chuck” is no more than a nostalgia tranquilizer, designed to comfort you after you roll your ankle on a two-step, dancing like no one’s watching.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2025
A rhino targeted for moving was not subdued by a tranquilizer dart shot from a helicopter.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
After being treated with a tranquilizer and an anti-inflammatory, the colt didn’t improve and went to the hospital.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
One of the beams settled on the doorway behind the fallen men, where Milligan now stood holding a tranquilizer gun.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
The bears ultimately returned to her home before tranquilizers were used.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 27, 2023
Police and emergency workers managed to corner the zebra after it entered a narrow alleyway between houses and shot it with tranquilizers, ending its three hours of freedom.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
"You should not swallow informational tranquilizers," Mikhail Khodaryonok, a retired colonel, told the "60 Minutes" talk show on Rossiya-1 hosted by Olga Skabeyeva, one of the most pro-Kremlin journalists on television.
From Reuters ● May 17, 2022
Fish and Wildlife officers responded as well, armed with tranquilizers, and successfully subdued the animal, which passed out with its head in the sink and a broken screen on the floor below.
From Fox News ● May 26, 2021
It took no great leap of intelligence to realize that Hamilton Knapp had laced Gingers dog treats with tranquilizers and laxatives so that she would do one, possibly two, embarrassing things on stage.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
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.
