substance abuse

/ˈsʌb·stəns əˌbjus/ n [U] medical

Definition

› the use of drugs or alcohol in a way that damages a person's life substance abuser

/ˈsʌb·stəns əˌbju·zər/ n [C]

(Definition of substance abuse n from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Our dictionaries

Browse the Thesaurus

“substance abuse” in other dictionaries

British English

Browse the Dictionary

Word of the Day

honest-to-goodness

real or true

Word of the Day ►

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.