performance-enhancing drug

noun

: a substance (such as an anabolic steroid, human growth hormone, or erythropoietin) that is used illicitly to improve athletic performance

In the United States, more than 1 million elite and recreational athletes use performance-enhancing drugs for muscle building purposes.

—Josiah D. Rich et al.

…33 of the 48 major and minor league players suspended by baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs since the start of 2006 were pitchers.

—Sean Gregory

Roger Bannister, the first person to run a subpar four-minute mile, said today he thought that increased use of blood testing could help curb the use of performance-enhancing drugs by track and field athletes.

—The New York Times

—abbreviation PED

Examples of performance-enhancing drug in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The second-round pick out of TCU played nine games in 2003 and was released in 2004 for the use of performance-enhancing drugs. —Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 27 Mar. 2026

That spring, Marte was suspended 80 games for a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. —C. Trent Rosecrans, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2026

Profar was suspended by Major League Baseball on Tuesday following his second positive test for a performance-enhancing drug. —CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026

This has been quite a three-year stretch for Garcia, suspended for a year and fined $1 million by the New York State Athletic Commission for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs in a win over Devin Haney. —ABC News, 22 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for performance-enhancing drug

• antidrug
• mealybug
• multidrug
• chug
• doug
• dug
• hug
• jug
• lug
• mug
• plug
• pug