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

Importantly, just as has been the experience regarding performance-enhancing drugs in sports, tools to detect AI use reliably are likely to lag. —Nate Bennett, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts wanted an apology from Sosa for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs, which Sosa always denied. —Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2025

Football has typically accepted these lapses and quietly moved on, adamant that the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PED) is primarily a problem for other sports. —Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 20 June 2025

The truth, uncovered by YouTuber Derek Munro, proved far less aspirational; an email leak in 2022 revealed that Johnson was on a cocktail of performance-enhancing drugs costing $11,000 per month. —Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025

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