psychopharmacology

noun

psy·​cho·​phar·​ma·​col·​o·​gy ˌsī-kō-ˌfär-mə-ˈkä-lə-jē 

: the study of the effect of drugs on the mind and behavior

psychopharmacological

ˌsī-kō-ˌfär-mə-kə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

or less commonly psychopharmacologic

ˌsī-kō-ˌfär-mə-kə-ˈlä-jik 

psychopharmacologist

ˌsī-kō-ˌfär-mə-ˈkä-lə-jist 

noun

Examples of psychopharmacology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Miles is now a dentist, and Farris is studying to get his Ph.D. in psychopharmacology investigation. —Arkansas Online, 22 June 2025

Does Victoria’s doctor offer bottomless refills like a Dave & Buster’s for psychopharmacology? —Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 7 Apr. 2025

Celia Morgan, now a psychopharmacology professor at the University of Exeter, in England, led a 2010 study that followed 120 recreational ketamine users for a year. —Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2025

About the Author Richard A. Friedman Richard A. Friedman is a professor of clinical psychiatry and the director of the psychopharmacology clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College. —Richard A. Friedman, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for psychopharmacology

• anesthesiology
• epidemiology
• ethnomethodology
• ethnomusicology
• gastroenterology
• immunobiology
• immunopathology
• neuropharmacology
• neurophysiology
• neuroradiology
• otolaryngology
• paleobiology

Medical Definition

psychopharmacology

noun

psy·​cho·​phar·​ma·​col·​o·​gy ˌsī-kō-ˌfär-mə-ˈkäl-ə-jē 

plural psychopharmacologies

: the study of the effect of drugs on the mind and behavior