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drug user

drug user

31 3.7
A person who takes illegal or recreational drugs
  • noun
  • /drʌɡ ˈjuːzər/
  • NSFW
translation icon : consumidor de drogas
  • Furthermore, arrests for drug use disrupt the lives of drug users, their families, and their neighbors.
  • injection drug users
  • intravenous drug users
  • Hispanic drug users

So one thing I will say is every drug user is not a prostitute.

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Examples

  • Considering all this, how do the parents of adolescent drug users explain the situation?

    Academic text (2008)
  • One charity they supported was Back to Life, which maintained halfway houses for drug users in several major cities.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I mean, the victims of the drug war are the drug users, right?

  • No drug users, no drug trade.

  • Until very recently, most drug users have been treated in terms of medical or criminal categories.

    Academic text (1993)
  • I am a casual drug user.

  • I was what they call a recreational drug user.

  • Given the relatively young age of the injection drug users in our study, these figures are disturbing.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Earlier perceptions that all drug users were addicts had resulted in a policy emphasizing treatment.

    Academic text (1992)
  • She has always been open about being a casual drug user during her college years.

Synonyms

user
vsdrug user
  • NSFW
86 7.5

A person who regularly takes illegal or addictive drugs

may do this occasionally or habitually rather than only regularly
druggie
vsdrug user
  • Offensive
12 9.2

A person who regularly uses illegal drugs

is a neutral description without slang or negative judgement
druggy
vsdrug user
  • Offensive
7 9.8

A person who often uses illegal substances

can also include occasional or recreational use, not only frequent use
substance abuser
vsdrug user
  • NSFW
5 5.7

A person who regularly uses drugs in a harmful or illegal way

is broader and can be neutral, including nonharmful recreational use
dopehead
vsdrug user
  • Offensive
2 9.9

A person who often uses illegal drugs

may describe occasional or recreational use as well

Antonyms

4.1

A person who does not use a certain product, service or substance

How Frequent

addict
  • NSFW
316 4.3
user
  • NSFW
86 7.5
drug user
  • NSFW
31 3.7

Surface Forms

drug user singular
drug users plural

Morphology

drug + user

The meaning 'a person who uses drugs' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'drug' (substance) with 'user' (person who uses something); the noun+noun pattern 'X user' regularly denotes a person who uses X in English and many other languages. A B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer this meaning.

Etymology

Drug user is a simple phrase made from drug and user. A user means 'one who uses' and a drug is a substance someone takes, so the phrase literally means a person who 'uses drugs'.