opiate

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a sedative or narcotic drug containing opium or one of its natural derivatives

   The physician administered an opiate so that the patient could sleep.

2. 2
   adj

   relating to, containing, or having the effects of opium

   The hospital kept the opiate medicine in a locked cabinet.

3. 3
   adj

   numbing awareness or producing passivity and apathy

   The critic described the spectacle as opiate entertainment for a weary public.

From Middle English opiate, from Medieval Latin opiatus ("made with opium"), based on Latin opium, ultimately from Greek opion ("poppy juice"). The figurative adjective extends the drug's sedating effect to anything that dulls thought or feeling.

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