opiate
/ˈəʊpiət/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈəʊpiət/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈō-pē-ət -ˌāt/ (ame, mw)
opiate — noun
- opiatesingular
- opiatesplural
1. a medicine made from opium, or directly from it, that is used to ease strong pai
a medicine made from opium, or directly from it, that is used to ease strong pain or make someone sleep.
After the accident, Karim received an opiate to ease the pain in his leg.
receive an opiate to + verb
The nurse checked Esme's breathing after the opiate made her unusually sleepy.
check breathing after an opiate
Police found illegal opiates hidden inside two tea tins in Tuan's bag.
Because the first tablet failed, Kemi was given a stronger opiate overnight.
- opioid
broader and more modern; also includes fully synthetic drugs
- narcotic
more formal and often used in law or policing
- painkiller
everyday and much broader; many painkillers are not opiates
文法句型
take/give + an opiate
strong opiate
illegal opiate
用法筆記
Common in medical or legal contexts rather than everyday conversation. In ordinary speech, people often say 'painkiller' unless they need to stress the opium-based class of drug.
常見錯誤
opiate — adjective
- opiatepositive
- more opiatecomparative
- most opiatesuperlative
1. having opium as one of its ingredients.
having opium as one of its ingredients.
The old cough bottle contained an opiate syrup that made children drowsy.
opiate syrup
A faded label warned that the powder included an opiate ingredient.
opiate ingredient
Inspectors removed the opiate mixture from the market after the recall.
The chemist kept a record of every opiate tincture sold that week.
- opium-based
clearer in modern everyday English, though less technical
文法句型
opiate + syrup/mixture/tincture/ingredient
用法筆記
Usually appears before a noun naming a substance or preparation. Unlike sense 2, this sense says the thing itself contains opium.
2. connected with opiate drugs, their action, or the body parts that respond to the
connected with opiate drugs, their action, or the body parts that respond to them.
Researchers measured opiate receptors in the brain tissue after the trial.
opiate receptors
The report compared opiate signals with other pathways that control pain.
opiate signals
Doctors watched for opiate side effects during the first night after surgery.
The textbook explains how opiate drugs attach to special cell receptors.
- opioid
often preferred in modern medical writing because it covers the wider drug family
文法句型
opiate + receptor/effect/side effect/drug
用法筆記
Often used in scientific or medical writing with nouns such as 'receptor', 'signal', or 'effect'. Unlike sense 1, it does not say the object literally contains opium.
3. bringing on a drug-like sleepy or numbed state.
bringing on a drug-like sleepy or numbed state.
After the injection, Ritu fell into an opiate sleep before the X-ray.
fall into an opiate sleep
By evening, the syrup left Kabir in an opiate calm on the sofa.
left someone in an opiate calm
Within an hour, the tablet had an opiate effect on Lukas and he drifted off.
Warm milk and the tablets brought an opiate heaviness to her eyelids.
文法句型
opiate + sleep/effect/calm/heaviness
用法筆記
This sense focuses on the sleepy, narcotic effect itself. Unlike sense 4, it describes physical drowsiness rather than social or mental passivity.
4. making people mentally dull, passive, or less ready to act.
making people mentally dull, passive, or less ready to act.
The speech had an opiate effect on the crowd, and no one argued back.
opiate effect on + group
For him, the routine became an opiate comfort that blocked every hard decision.
opiate comfort
Cheap entertainment served as an opiate escape from the town's anger.
The leader offered an opiate promise of calm instead of real reform.
- numbing
more common and less literary
- stupefying
stronger; stresses mental dullness
- stimulating
encourages energy or action instead of dulling it
文法句型
opiate + effect/comfort/promise/escape
用法筆記
Mostly figurative and often critical in tone. It suggests that something soothes people in a way that keeps them quiet or inactive.