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 more athletes who follow Williams’s lead, the more urgent the question of whether GLP-1s should be treated as performance-enhancing drugs will become. — Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 20 June 2026

To finance his bodybuilding pursuits, Eddie waits tables at a barbecue joint, where his co-worker Trig (Evan Hall) supplies him with performance-enhancing drugs. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 June 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed outfielder Max Kepler, who is still serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. — ABC News, 7 June 2026

The sprinting, swimming and weightlifting event that allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs held its inaugural event in Las Vegas, where organizers had hyped the competition as a PED-friendly Olympics with high drama, big purses and shattered records. — Robert Abitbol, USA Today, 30 May 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