truth serum

noun

: a hypnotic or anesthetic held to induce a subject under questioning to talk freely

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Amazingly, not one of these very smart bobble heads is an actual conservation biologist, who would, if he or she was given truth serum, have said that our most noble, high-minded environmental law is an unmitigated failure. Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 26 Apr. 2011 No law prohibits the use of truth serum, assuming the subject consents. Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 2 Oct. 2021 Pour some truth serum into a few cups in Flushing, and this outcome — deGrom to the AL, Verlander to Citi Field — might have been what most Mets brass and supporters rooted for all along. Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 5 Dec. 2022 Another veteran, however — Mike Conley — came into his media session apparently dosed with truth serum. Eric Walden, The Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Oct. 2022 The #nofilter Moussa can be disarmingly childlike and offensively straightforward, and Bouajila plays him like a zombie who’s been injected with too much truth serum. Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Sep. 2022 Steve and Robin end up getting captured, tortured and injected in truth serum. Abby Dupes, Seventeen, 26 May 2022 The next four games are the truth serum: at Wyoming, at Utah State, Colorado State, at Nevada. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Dec. 2021 Now it was being recast as a kind of truth serum, a tool of deep personal introspection. New York Times, 15 Nov. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'truth serum.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of truth serum was in 1913

Dictionary Entries Near truth serum

Cite this Entry

“Truth serum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/truth%20serum. Accessed 27 Mar. 2023.

Medical Definition

truth serum

noun
: a hypnotic or anesthetic (as thiopental) held to induce a subject under questioning to talk freely
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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