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/ .

Words Nearby truth serum

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

How to use truth serum in a sentence

  • The flood of force pouring through my head was more effective than any truth serum.

    Valley of the Croen | Lee Tarbell
  • Now Mr. Warren, I don't know if you got any confidence in the lie detector test and the truth serum, and so on.

    Warren Commission (5 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
  • Because as it stands now—and the truth serum, and any other—Pentothal—how do you pronounce it, whatever it is.

    Warren Commission (5 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
  • What sort of talents and abilities did he possess, that he could react thus to a truth-serum?

    Man of Many Minds | E. Everett Evans
  • So the doctors gave him truth-serum so he would not try to conceal anything from them.

    The Leader | William Fitzgerald Jenkins (AKA Murray Leinster)