opiate

1. not comparablemedicineRelating to, resembling, or containing opium.
2. not comparableSoporific; inducing sleep or sedation.
3. not comparableDeadening; causing apathy or dullness.

plural opiates

1. medicineA drug, hormone or other substance derived from or related to opium.
2. Something that dulls the senses and induces a false and unrealistic sense of contentment.

   They chose atheism as an opiate.

   1692, Richard Bentley, [A Confutation of Atheism] (please specify the sermon), London: [Thomas Parkhurst; Henry Mortlock], published 1692–1693

   1 more example

   The music—the fragrance of the flowers, whose odour was exhaling in the now falling dew—the languor of recent exertion—the sense of past dangers and present security—operated on Beatrice like the first and delicious stage of an opiate.

   1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 230

   Synonyms: opium

present singular third person opiates · participle present opiating · participle past opiated · past opiated

1. transitiveTo treat with an opiate drug.