medicate
verb
med·i·cate
ˈme-di-ˌkāt 
medicated; medicating
1
: to treat (someone or something) with or as if with medicine
medicate a condition
was medicated for pain/depression
… is happily living his life one day at a time since he stopped drinking and otherwise medicating himself …—
Charles Leerhsen
Charles Leerhsen2
: to impregnate with a medicinal substance
medicated soap
Examples of medicate in a Sentence
The patient had been heavily medicated.
Recent Examples on the Web
The suit also claims that Bellino was hospitalized and medicated because of the assault.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 2 Nov. 2023
Many of them don’t like the side effects of drugs; some prefer being manic to being medicated.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2023
My father suffers from bipolar disorder and has been medicated for over 20 years.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2023
At the same time, he was involuntarily medicated for his illness.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023
Laden with a raft of psychiatric diagnoses and medicated to the gills beginning in adolescence, Carrière provides a compelling depiction of dissociative disorder — the most debilitating and eerie of her many conditions.
—Priscilla Gilman, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2023
Her mother insisted she be diagnosed with ADHD and doctors medicated her, engendering a cycle of erasure and blame for Nietfeld.
—Jenny Bartoy, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2023
Validate an anxious flier's feelings and communicate rather than medicate.
—Samantha Leal, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 2023
Yet while more of us are medicated than ever, rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide have surged over the last 20 years.
—Kelley Manley, ELLE, 8 June 2023
See More
Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 2 Nov. 2023
Many of them don’t like the side effects of drugs; some prefer being manic to being medicated.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2023
My father suffers from bipolar disorder and has been medicated for over 20 years.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2023
At the same time, he was involuntarily medicated for his illness.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023
Laden with a raft of psychiatric diagnoses and medicated to the gills beginning in adolescence, Carrière provides a compelling depiction of dissociative disorder — the most debilitating and eerie of her many conditions.
—Priscilla Gilman, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2023
Her mother insisted she be diagnosed with ADHD and doctors medicated her, engendering a cycle of erasure and blame for Nietfeld.
—Jenny Bartoy, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2023
Validate an anxious flier's feelings and communicate rather than medicate.
—Samantha Leal, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 2023
Yet while more of us are medicated than ever, rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide have surged over the last 20 years.
—Kelley Manley, ELLE, 8 June 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'medicate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Latin medicatus, past participle of medicare to heal, from medicus
First Known Use
circa 1623, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing medicate
Dictionary Entries Near medicate
Cite this Entry
“Medicate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicate. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Medical Definition
medicate
transitive verb
med·i·cate
ˈmed-ə-ˌkāt
medicated; medicating
1
: to treat medicinally
2
: to impregnate with a medicinal substance
medicated soap
More from Merriam-Webster on medicate
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share