opium
opium Lexical Profile
opium Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A reddish-brown, heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the dried latex of the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy, used historically as a narcotic and analgesic and as the source of alkaloids such as morphine and codeine.
"Historians have extensively documented how the nineteenth-century trade in opium reshaped diplomatic and economic relations across East Asia."
Anything that soothes, dulls the senses, or induces a state of complacency and false contentment.
"Critics argued that endless televised entertainment had become a modern opium that distracted citizens from pressing civic issues."
• Rhymes for opium
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Latin opium, which derives from Ancient Greek opion ('poppy juice'), a diminutive of opos ('vegetable juice' or 'plant sap').