Synonyms

truth serum

American

[trooth seer-uhm] / ˈtruθ ˌsɪər əm /

Often truth drug

noun

a drug, as the barbiturate thiopental, that induces in the subject a desire to talk or a state of heightened suggestibility, used in psychotherapy and in interrogation to discover repressed or consciously withheld information.

Etymology

Origin of truth serum

First recorded in 1920–25

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.

As the YouTube hit demonstrates, hot sauce isn’t just for daredevils and masochists: It’s a truth serum.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

The playfulness kicks in when George and Kathryn invite the other suspects over for a dinner spiced with garlic and truth serum.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2025

“If opening day was today, he would certainly be running out there in center, which I know he loves. I think if you put truth serum in him, that’s what he’d want to do, regardless.”

From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2023

And so, in the real world, one submits to these devices nervously, as one would to some kind of truth serum or all-seeing eye: There is no hiding here.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2023

Maybe it isn’t possible to lie under the truth serum, but to select which version of the truth to tell: Four is his name, hut it is not his name.

From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023