Meaning & use
psychoactive drug
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablemedicaltechnical
Any substance that changes how the brain works, affecting mood, perception, consciousness, or behavior.
Grammar: Countable: 'a psychoactive drug', 'many psychoactive drugs'. It can also be used like an uncountable category: 'the effects of psychoactive drug use'.
Patterns
- a psychoactive drug
- take a psychoactive drug
- the effects of psychoactive drugs
Caffeine is a mild psychoactive drug that many people consume every day.
The report examined how psychoactive drugs affect sleep and memory.
Some psychoactive drugs are prescribed legally to treat severe anxiety.
nouncountablemedical
Such a substance taken for non-medical reasons, especially one that is illegal or misused.
Grammar: Often plural in this sense: 'psychoactive drugs' as a category of illegal substances.
Patterns
- use psychoactive drugs
- illegal psychoactive drugs
- traces of psychoactive drugs
The law bans the sale of most psychoactive drugs outside pharmacies.
Tests showed traces of psychoactive drugs in his blood.
Public health campaigns warn young people about psychoactive drugs.
Word forms
| plural | psychoactive drugs |
|---|
Common combinations
- a psychoactive substance
- Alcohol is the most widely used psychoactive substance in many countries.
- the effects of a psychoactive drug
- The effects of a psychoactive drug depend on the dose and the person.
- prescribe a psychoactive drug
- Doctors may prescribe a psychoactive drug for severe depression.
- psychoactive drug use
- The study looked at psychoactive drug use among university students.
- illegal psychoactive drugs
- Customs officers seized a large amount of illegal psychoactive drugs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- psychotropic drug
- Very close in meaning, but it is used mainly for medicines that treat mental conditions rather than for all mind-altering substances.
- mind-altering substance
- A plainer, less technical phrase that includes the same idea but sounds more general.
- narcotic
- This usually refers only to strong painkilling or illegal drugs, so it is much narrower.
Word family
- psychoactive adjective
- Describing a substance that acts on the mind.
- psychopharmacology noun
- The study of drugs that affect mood, thinking, and behavior.
- psychotropic adjective
- Relating to drugs that act on the mind, especially prescribed medicines.
Commonly confused: psychoactive drug or psychiatric drug? psychoactive drug or placebo?
psychoactive drug vs psychiatric drug
A psychiatric drug is a prescribed medicine for mental illness; a psychoactive drug is any substance that changes brain activity, including alcohol and caffeine.
psychoactive drug vs placebo
A placebo has no active ingredient, while a psychoactive drug does change brain function.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'psychoactive drug' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Caffeine genuinely changes brain activity, so it fits the definition. A headache tablet is a painkiller, a bandage is not a drug, and a cleaning product has no effect on the mind.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “psychoactive drug”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.