Definition of opiate in English:

opiate

See synonyms for opiate

Translate opiate into Spanish

adjective

Relating to, resembling, or containing opium.
‘the use of opiate drugs’
- ‘Anti-cancer drugs and radiotherapy commonly produce nausea and vomiting, as do other drugs active in the central nervous system, including opiate pain killers (morphine, heroin) and also alcohol.’
- ‘The project, the first of its kind in the York area, aims to help addicts of heroin and other opiate drugs such as methadone.’
- ‘By using opiate analgesics and sedatives to provide comfort to a dying patient, we risk depressing respirations and causing hypotension, which may hasten death.’
- ‘As the name might suggest, cells with opiate receptors respond to opium and its derivatives, morphine and heroin.’
- ‘Heroin is a powerful opiate analgesic derived from morphine.’
- ‘Although patients with pain may request opiate analgesics, it is best to emphasize the benign treatments mentioned previously.’
- ‘He claimed that the practice of giving fishermen a strong opiate drug for withdrawal was just as dangerous as heroin as there was no way of monitoring its use at sea.’
- ‘Small studies have suggested that the opiate antagonist naltrexone is effective for treating alcohol addiction.’
- ‘The addition of opiate drugs in epidurals can create further risks for the mother, such as respiratory depression.’
- ‘Both were white women with a college education, and both used prescription opiate drugs along with heroin.’

Pronunciation

opiate

/ˈōpēət/ /ˈoʊpiət/

noun

1A drug derived from or related to opium.
‘the opiates are known to have natural counterparts called endorphins’
- ‘The specimens are tested for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, PCP, and five other drugs.’
- ‘There is no difference between men and women on lifetime prevalence of cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, or sedatives.’
- ‘On the other hand, the state increased its regulation of legally manufactured drugs such as amphetamine, opiates, opioids, and, to a lesser extent, barbiturates and tranquilizers.’
- ‘A urine drug screen for cocaine, opiates, and methamphetamine was conducted on each potential participant.’
- ‘No errors were found for current dependency on amphetamine, opiates, PCP, hallucinogens, and inhalants.’
- ‘Drugs such as opiates and cocaine are clearly very enjoyable, and users often report that such drugs produce intense feelings of pleasure.’
- ‘Methadone is a synthetic opiate, similar to heroin, that blocks the effects of heroin and eliminates withdrawal symptoms.’
- ‘Drugs counsellors generally agree that residential treatment is the only means by which most addicts will permanently quit opiates - heroin, cocaine and methadone.’
- ‘Lifestyle factors such as smoking, drug use (especially cocaine or opiates like heroin) and excessive alcohol consumption can affect sexual function.’
- ‘The 10-minute test can detect cannabis up to 14 days after it is taken, but only three to five days after cocaine, amphetamines or opiates are used.’
- ‘A survey of general practitioners in Leicestershire has shown they are seriously dissatisfied with the systems in place for handling controlled drugs such as opiates.’
- ‘This is a shortcoming that is probably unavoidable and applies to all double blind studies comparing opiates with other drugs.’
- ‘In this case, the drug was an opiate called Percocet, a prescription pain medication.’
- ‘Any painkillers containing opiates, such as laudanum, were out of the question until the concussion went away.’
- ‘Whether it be alcohol, cannabis, opiates, Khat, cocaine, nicotine or merely caffeine, few of us seem able to face life without chemical crutches.’
- ‘The agents treat opiate addiction by preventing symptoms of withdrawal from heroin and other opiates.’
- ‘The results of a urine toxicology screen were positive for opiates and cocaine.’
- ‘Spanish pharmacies had become paradises for dope fiends, and heroin users often maintained themselves with opiates and tranquilizers obtained in these facilities.’
- ‘A legal opiate analog such as methadone may be substituted for the abused opiate, with the methadone dosage then slowly reduced.’
- ‘Powdered morphine, which is an opiate, sprinkled directly on the wound and oral opium also were used widely as analgesics.’
drug, narcotic, mind-altering drug, sedative, tranquillizer, depressant, sleeping pill, soporific, anaesthetic, painkiller, analgesic, anodyne
View synonyms
1. 1.1A thing which soothes or stupefies.
  ‘the capacity to use books as an opiate’

Pronunciation

opiate

/ˈōpēət/ /ˈoʊpiət/

transitive verb

[with object]

Dull the senses of (someone) with or as if with opium.
‘he grew old and soft, opiating himself into a dreaming bliss’
- ‘they opiate the people with the promises of social change that they fail to keep’

Pronunciation

opiate

/ˈōpēāt/ /ˈoʊpieɪt/

Phrases

the opiate of the masses

Something regarded as inducing a false and unrealistic sense of contentment among people.
Origin
Translating the German phrase Opium des Volks, used by Karl Marx in reference to religion (1844).