hypnotic
1
7.1
- noun
- /hɪpˈnɑtɪk/
- Specialized
:
somnífero
- They used a hypnotic medication to manage the patient's insomnia.
Examples
-
The doctor prescribed a hypnotic to help me sleep through the night.
-
It is used as a sedative and hypnotic during anaesthesia, and as a premedication for anaesthesia, in children and adults, and in obstetrics and psychiatry.
Academic text (2007) -
A hypnotic is effective if it facilitates sleep that is both restful and restorative and allows usual functioning while awake.
Academic text (2006) -
After taking the hypnotic, she fell asleep almost immediately.
Synonyms
45
2.9
A tablet you take to help you fall asleep
1
2.8
A small pill that helps you sleep
A medicine that makes you sleep
A medicine or plant that makes you feel sleepy
A medicine that reduces anxiety and helps a person sleep
A medicine that calms the brain, reduces worry, and makes you sleep
A drug that makes a person very sleepy and fall asleep
Compounds
- Specialized
1
8.6
A very relaxed state where someone accepts another person's suggestions easily
- Specialized
A medicine that calms the brain, reduces worry, and makes you sleep
How Sedating
- Specialized
12
9.0
- Specialized
1
7.1
- Archaic
1
8.2
- Specialized
22
6.7
Surface Forms
Etymology
The noun hypnotic comes from the Greek root hypno- meaning 'sleep', so a hypnotic medicine is literally 'sleep-making'. That is why doctors call drugs that help people sleep 'hypnotics'.