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 about it: Would a woman who makes her own bath salts and jams from scratch be satisfied with a color straight out of the bottle? —Ariana Yaptangco, Glamour, 13 Mar. 2025

This looks like setting up snacks, towels, and spa-like bath salts and tea bags for her guests. —Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Mar. 2025

Instead, the former actor has now gone full Martha Stewart, inviting friends like Mindy Kaling and expert guests including Roy Choi and Alice Waters over to her Montecito abode to cook meals in between sharing DIY tips for everything from bath salts to balloon arches. —Ellise Shafer, Variety, 4 Mar. 2025

They can be used in various cooking methods and have been therapeutically used as bath salts to relieve muscle soreness or pain.367 Which Salt Has a Better Mineral Content? Salts are shaped by the minerals present in the land or sea, each of which holds a diverse range of elements. —Lauren O'Connor, Ms, Health, 18 Feb. 2025

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)