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drug dealer

drug dealer

246 4.8
A person who sells illegal drugs
  • noun
  • /drʌg ˈdiːlər/
  • NSFW
translation icon : traficante de drogas
  • The police arrested a notorious drug dealer who had been operating in the city for years.
  • illegal drug dealers
  • arrest of drug dealers
  • gangs and drug dealers

He, his dad was a drug dealer who got shot.

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Examples

  • We made friends with our neighborhood drug dealer as one does.

  • Could I speak to the drug dealer of the house please?

  • So now the charge to the drug dealer is murder.

  • Just give me the names of those drug dealers.

  • You know, they labeled it the biggest drug dealer in the county.

  • But we get a lot of ex-cons and drug dealers coming out here to lay low.

  • A group of men, mostly drug dealers, hang out at an all-night coffee shop.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The kid gives him money, and the drug dealer stuffs a small baggie in the boy's shirt.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • After years in prison, he decided to turn his life around and leave his past as a drug dealer behind.

  • In his small town, everybody knew that the new resident was a drug dealer selling illegal substances.

Synonyms

dealer
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
384 6.5

A person who buys and sells illegal goods like drugs and stolen items

focuses specifically on selling illegal drugs rather than broader illicit trade
pusher
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
21 8.4

A person who sells illegal drugs to other people

refers more broadly to anyone who sells illegal drugs, not only direct sellers
drug trafficker
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
16 6.2

A person who illegally buys and sells large amounts of drugs

describes selling illegal drugs generally, without implying large scale activity
narco
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
15 8.3

A person who sells or moves illegal drugs

emphasizes simple selling activity rather than wider trade involvement
peddler
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
4 8.1

A person who secretly sells illegal drugs

is similar but does not stress secretive or unlicensed selling
drug peddler
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
1 7.4

A person who sells illegal drugs, often on the street

is the general term for someone selling illegal drugs without a license
junkman
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A person who sells illegal drugs, especially heroin

is a neutral label for selling illegal drugs, not substance specific
street pharmacist
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
9.8

A person who sells illegal drugs on the street

is the standard term without the informal street connotation
pill pusher
vsdrug dealer
  • Offensive
9.7

A person who illegally sells drugs to others

means selling illegal drugs without focusing on unethical promotion
superfly
vsdrug dealer
  • NSFW
9.9

A person who sells illegal drugs and becomes well known for it

is the ordinary term for someone selling illegal drugs without success implication

How Powerful

drug lord
  • NSFW
33 4.9
supplier
204 2.7
trafficker
  • NSFW
62 8.0
drug dealer
  • NSFW
246 4.8

Surface Forms

drug dealer singular
drug dealers plural

Morphology

drug + dealer

The meaning 'a person who sells illegal drugs' is directly and compositionally derived from 'drug' (substance) + 'dealer' (seller/trader); the phrase simply specifies the type of goods traded. This compound is regular and cross-linguistically transparent (equivalent constructions exist in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Drug dealer puts together drug and dealer, so imagine someone who 'deals' out small packets on a street corner like a card dealer handing out cards. That's why drug dealer means 'a person who sells illegal drugs'.