PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does psychoactive substance mean? 

• PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE (noun)
  The noun PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE has 1 sense:

1. a drug that can produce mood changes and distorted perceptions

  Familiarity information: PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A drug that can produce mood changes and distorted perceptions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

consciousness-altering drug; mind-altering drug; psychoactive drug; psychoactive substance

Hypernyms ("psychoactive substance" is a kind of...):

drug (a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "psychoactive substance"):

designer drug (a psychoactive drug deliberately synthesized to avoid anti-drug laws; mimics the effects of a banned drug; law was revised in 1986 to ban designer drugs)

dronabinol (psychoactive substance present in marijuana; used therapeutically to control nausea associated with cancer therapy)

euphoriant (a psychoactive drug that tends to produce elation and euphoria)

hallucinogen; hallucinogenic drug; psychedelic drug; psychodelic drug (a psychoactive drug that induces hallucinations or altered sensory experiences)

tetrahydrocannabinol; THC (psychoactive substance present in marijuana)

 Context examples 

A synthetic form of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, a psychoactive substance found in Cannabis sativa.

(Dronabinol, NCI Thesaurus)