tranquilizer
Americannoun
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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.
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.
You’d have needed a tranquilizer gun to keep him from chasing after the next story, and the next, and he was still telling stories until his death in 2015.
From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2025
The bear fell asleep for hours after being shot with tranquilizer darts, then fell out of the tree and landed on a mattress — a soft landing that was supplied by Walter.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2024
Nearly twenty years ago, MIT researcher Judith Wurtman observed that "Carbohydrates raise serotonin levels naturally and act like a natural tranquilizer."
From Salon • Oct. 1, 2023
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
I was relieved for a split second, but then I saw it—a white-and-orange tranquilizer dart lodged in Sasha’s right arm.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
