truth serum

[ trooth seer-uh m ]
/ ˈtruθ ˌsɪər əm /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR truth serum ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.
Often truth drug [trooth druhg] /ˈtruθ ˌdrʌg/.
Compare narcoanalysis.

Origin of truth serum

First recorded in 1920–25

Words nearby truth serum

truth, truth claim, truth drug, truth is stranger than fiction, truth or consequences, truth serum, truth set, truth table, truth will out, truth, sojourner, truth-condition

Words related to truth serum

Pentothal, scopolamine

Example sentences from the Web for truth serum

  • Then, abruptly, "Are you sure that was truth-serum in that hypodermic?"

    Man of Many Minds |E. Everett Evans

  • 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)

Medical definitions for truth serum

truth serum
[ trōōth ]

n.

Any of various hypnotic or anesthetic drugs, such as scopolamine or thiopental sodium, used to induce a subject under questioning to talk without inhibition.