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Glite Dictionary
to do drugs

to do drugs

100 7.5
Take illegal or recreational drugs to change how you feel
  • phrasal verb
  • NSFW
translation icon : drogarse
  • I think if people want to do drugs, the government shouldn't stop them.

And so I started doing drugs and smoking.

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Examples

  • You can not do drugs, you know, not drink too much, things like that.

  • It's like kids don't do drugs, don't drink.

  • It's important to drink or do drugs to stay popular.

  • I would never do drugs.

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

  • And so I started doing drugs and smoking.

    Dr. Mayim Bialik

  • Which is silly, because everybody was doing drugs at the time.

    Academic text (2005)

  • I'd heard that some people felt that way when they did drugs.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • So remember, if you're doing drugs, please don't drive on the road.

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

  • Here's the thing, brother, If you gonna do drugs, that's your choice.

    Theo Von

  • I decided to change my life and never do drugs again.

Synonyms

to get high
vsto do drugs
  • NSFW
112 9.3

Feel very happy and different after taking drugs or alcohol

focuses on the act of taking illegal recreational substances rather than the effect
to dope
vsto do drugs
  • NSFW
33 8.4

To give an athlete or animal drugs to make them perform better unfairly

is about using for fun or habit rather than to improve performance
to drug
vsto do drugs
  • NSFW
5 7.9

To take substances for pleasure rather than for medicine

describes taking illegal recreational substances for fun or as a habit

Antonyms

to abstain
18 5.0

To choose not to take something, often for health or religious reasons

How Habitual

to habituate
1 7.5
to do drugs
  • NSFW
100 7.5
to experiment
170 3.5

Surface Forms

do drugs infinitive
did drugs past
done drugs past participle
doing drugs present participle
does drugs third person singular

Morphology

do + drug

The meaning 'to use or take illegal or recreational drugs' is directly derivable from combining 'do' (to perform or engage in an activity) with 'drugs' (substances), since 'do' commonly marks participating in activities (e.g., do homework, do sport). This follows a regular English activity verb + noun pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would very likely infer the intended sense.

Etymology

Do drugs comes from using the simple verb do to mean 'take' or 'use' with drugs. Imagine someone saying they will do a pill or do heroin—the verb just names the action, so do drugs means 'to use illegal or recreational drugs'.