truth serum

[ trooth-seer-uhm ]
See synonyms for truth serum on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a drug, as the barbiturate thiopental, that induces in the subject a desire to talk or a state of heightened suggestibility, used in psychotherapy and in interrogation to discover repressed or consciously withheld information.

Origin of truth serum

1
First recorded in 1920–25
  • Often truth drug [trooth-druhg] /ˈtruθ ˌdrʌg/ .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024