bath salts

plural noun

1

: a usually colored crystalline compound for perfuming and softening bathwater

2

: any of various synthetic illicit drugs with stimulant and sometimes hallucinogenic properties that are used (as by being injected or snorted) typically in the form of a white or brown crystalline powder

Examples of bath salts in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Think bath salts, bath bombs, or a soothing bubble bath paired with a loofah or wooden bath tray. —Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 3 Feb. 2026

The shop is brimming with all kinds of items, ranging from soap, kids toys, stationary, candles, and bath salts, to pottery, jewelry, crystals, housewares, and home goods. —Pamela Brown, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2026

One set includes three different jar sizes—store anything from cotton balls to Q-tips or bath salts inside. —Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Jan. 2026

The king-sized bed was spacious and extremely comfortable, and the bathroom had a circular two-person marble tub stocked with Japanese bath salts and double sinks. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bath salts

• asphalts
• assaults
• basalts
• defaults
• exalts
• faults
• halts
• malts
• vaults
• waltz
• somersaults
• thunderbolts

Medical Definition

bath salts

noun plural

1

: a usually colored crystalline compound for perfuming and softening bathwater

2

: any of various synthetic, illicit, stimulant drugs that contain derivatives of cathinone (such as MDPV) and are typically sold as white or brown crystalline powders

Los Angeles County health officials warned Tuesday against the use of bath salts—the designer drug involved in a series of bizarre incidents and arrests—just one week after a new study charted a skyrocketing number of calls to U.S. poison control centers about the drug.

—Wesley Lowery, The Los Angeles Times

—sometimes singular

Although the man was later proven to not be under the influence of bath salt, the incident nonetheless brought the drug national attention.

—Lauren McGaughy, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana)