noun
heroin
HAIR-oh-in/ˈherəʊɪn/
A highly addictive opioid drug made from morphine.
Heroin is a highly addictive drug that can cause fatal overdoses.
Etymology
German Heroin was a trademark for a morphine substitute. The traditional explanation connects the name with Greek “hero” and the drug’s euphoric effects, but the source reports no evidence for that derivation.
In context
more than one way for poppy seeds to show up in your urine! While useful in medicine, the darker side of the opium poppy is of course the illicit drug, heroin.
More examples
- The clinic offers treatment for heroin addiction.
- Heroin is made from morphine.
- Police arrested two people for selling heroin.
Forms
heroin
Similar words
- opioid
- Names the broader drug class that includes heroin.
- morphine
- The medically used painkiller from which heroin is made.