1
: a bitter brownish addictive narcotic drug that consists of the dried latex obtained from immature seed capsules of the opium poppy
2
: something having an effect like that of opium
Examples of opium in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Drug trafficking is a significant issue and major clandestine industry in Iran, where narcotics including opium flow in through neighboring countries.
—
Nilo Tabrizy, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Some 1,500 miles to the northeast, in in the desert province of Helmand in Afghanistan, more than 60,000 opium farmers have in the past few years given up on malfunctioning state irrigation canals and switched to tapping underground water using solar water pumps.
—Fred Pearce, WIRED, 9 Mar. 2024
And who doesn't love an old merry-go-round? October: Chiang Rai, Thailand
The Golden Triangle region, where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, used to be known for its opium trade.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2024
While the return of the Taliban means opium production in Afghanistan has plummeted by 95%, poppy cultivation in Myanmar more than doubled in 2022 and continued to grow last year.
—TIME, 21 Mar. 2024
The large plots of land where her family once grew plentiful wheat, and occasionally poppy for opium, have long since gone barren.
—Lynsey Addario Victoria Kim, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024
In the mid-eighteenth century, the British began a campaign to get the Chinese population hooked on opium produced in India, in the hope of correcting a trade imbalance.
—The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
Historically liberal Hong Kong was the happy creation of an unjust imperial British war against the decrepit Chinese empire over the rights of opium merchants.
—Doug Bandow, National Review, 10 Feb. 2024
The duo of trios was slated to turn Starlet Room into some madcap version of an avant-garde folk-blues opium den in April, but a health scare derailed the plans.
—Aaron Davis, Sacramento Bee, 28 Jan. 2024
Nilo Tabrizy, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Some 1,500 miles to the northeast, in in the desert province of Helmand in Afghanistan, more than 60,000 opium farmers have in the past few years given up on malfunctioning state irrigation canals and switched to tapping underground water using solar water pumps.
—Fred Pearce, WIRED, 9 Mar. 2024
And who doesn't love an old merry-go-round? October: Chiang Rai, Thailand
The Golden Triangle region, where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, used to be known for its opium trade.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2024
While the return of the Taliban means opium production in Afghanistan has plummeted by 95%, poppy cultivation in Myanmar more than doubled in 2022 and continued to grow last year.
—TIME, 21 Mar. 2024
The large plots of land where her family once grew plentiful wheat, and occasionally poppy for opium, have long since gone barren.
—Lynsey Addario Victoria Kim, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024
In the mid-eighteenth century, the British began a campaign to get the Chinese population hooked on opium produced in India, in the hope of correcting a trade imbalance.
—The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
Historically liberal Hong Kong was the happy creation of an unjust imperial British war against the decrepit Chinese empire over the rights of opium merchants.
—Doug Bandow, National Review, 10 Feb. 2024
The duo of trios was slated to turn Starlet Room into some madcap version of an avant-garde folk-blues opium den in April, but a health scare derailed the plans.
—Aaron Davis, Sacramento Bee, 28 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'opium.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near opium
Cite this Entry
“Opium.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opium. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
opium
noun
opi·um
ˈō-pē-əm 
1
: a bitter brownish narcotic drug that causes addiction and is the dried juice of the unripe fruit capsule of the opium poppy
2
: something having an effect like that of opium
Medical Definition
opium
noun
opi·um
ˈō-pē-əm
: a highly addictive drug that consists of the dried milky juice from the seed capsules of the opium poppy obtained from incisions made in the unripe capsules of the plant, that has a brownish yellow color, a faint smell, and a bitter and acrid taste, that is a stimulant narcotic usually producing a feeling of well-being, hallucinations, and drowsiness terminating in coma or death if the dose is excessive, that was formerly used in medicine to soothe pain but is now often replaced by derivative alkaloids (as morphine or codeine) or synthetic substitutes, and that is smoked illicitly as an intoxicant with harmful effects
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