tranquilizer

noun

tran·​quil·​iz·​er ˈtraŋ-kwə-ˌlī-zər 

ˈtran-

variants or less commonly tranquillizer

1

: a drug used to reduce mental disturbance (such as anxiety and tension) compare antipsychotic

2

: one that tranquilizes

Examples of tranquilizer in a Sentence

a patient who is on tranquilizers

Recent Examples on the Web

After ambushing Fuller at her mansion, Teddy and his accomplice/cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) knock her unconscious with a tranquilizer and load her into the backseat of her own car. —Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025

After that incident, the department changed its approach and shot the remaining three adults with tranquilizer darts rather than a firearm, then euthanized them on the ground with injections of the type a sick animal might receive when being put to sleep by a veterinarian. —Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 29 Oct. 2025

One of them manages to stick a syringe full of tranquilizers in her thigh. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2025

Spike takes one of Kelson's tranquilizer darts filled with morphine and stabs Samson in the arm with it. —Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for tranquilizer

• advertiser
• analyser
• analyzer
• appetizer
• atomizer
• breathalyzer
• colonizer
• crystallizer
• digitizer
• equalizer
• fertilizer
• localizer

Kids Definition

tranquilizer

noun

tran·​quil·​iz·​er

variants also tranquillizer

ˈtraŋ-kwə-ˌlī-zər 

ˈtran-

: one that tranquilizes

especially : a drug used to reduce anxiety and nervous tension

Medical Definition

tranquilizer

noun

tran·​quil·​iz·​er

variants or chiefly British tranquillizer or tranquilliser

-ˌlī-zər 

: a drug used to reduce mental disturbance (as anxiety and tension) see antipsychotic