noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈhɛɹoʊ.ɪn/
Canada, US:/hɛəɹoʊ.ɪn/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
homophone: heroine (one pronunciation)
rhymes with -ɛɹəʊɪn
CMU ARPABET:HH EH1 R OW0 AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A powerful and addictive drug derived from opium producing intense euphoria, classed as an illegal narcotic in most of the world.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: diamorphine, diacetylmorphine, smack
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Obsolete spelling of heroine.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a narcotic that is considered a hard drug; a highly addictive morphine derivative; intravenous injection provides the fastest and most intense rush
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: diacetylmorphine
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hard drug, opiate
Narrower terms: big H, hell dust, nose drops, smack, thunder, skag, scag
History
Etymology
Since the 1890s, from German Heroin, originally a trademark, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”) and the suffix -in (“-ine”). Said to have been called thus to evoke quick and sweeping effect as a painkiller and cough suppressant (its original uses). Alternatively explained as a reference to the heroic school of medicine.
Across languages
Translations
66 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
heroina
— powerful and addictive drug
Arabic:
هِيرُويْن
(hiruyn)
— powerful and addictive drug
Armenian:
հերոին
(heroin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Asturian:
heroína
— powerful and addictive drug
Azerbaijani:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Basque:
heroina
— powerful and addictive drug
Belarusian:
гераі́н
(hjeraín)
— powerful and addictive drug
Bulgarian:
хероин
(heroin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Catalan:
heroïna
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Cantonese:
海洛英
(hoi2 lok6 jing1)
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Cantonese:
白粉
(baak6 fan2)
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Cantonese:
灰
(fui1)
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Cantonese:
粉
(fan2)
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Cantonese:
四仔
(sei3 zai2)
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Mandarin:
海洛因
(hǎiluòyīn)
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Mandarin:
白麵兒 /白面儿
(báimiànr)
— powerful and addictive drug
Chinese Mandarin:
白粉
(báifěn)
— powerful and addictive drug
Czech:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Danish:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Dutch:
heroïne
— powerful and addictive drug
Esperanto:
heroino
— powerful and addictive drug
Estonian:
heroiin
— powerful and addictive drug
Faroese:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Finnish:
heroiini
— powerful and addictive drug
French:
héroïne
— powerful and addictive drug
Galician:
heroína
— powerful and addictive drug
Georgian:
ჰეროინი
(heroini)
— powerful and addictive drug
German:
Heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Greek:
ηρωίνη
(iroḯni)
— powerful and addictive drug
Hebrew:
הרואין
(héroyin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Hindi:
हेरोइन
(heroin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Hungarian:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Icelandic:
heróín
— powerful and addictive drug
Ido:
heroeno
— powerful and addictive drug
Irish:
héaróin
— powerful and addictive drug
Italian:
eroina
— powerful and addictive drug
Japanese:
ヘロイン
(heroin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Khmer:
ហេរ៉ូអ៊ីន
(heerouʼiin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Korean:
헤로인
(heroin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Latin:
heroinum
— powerful and addictive drug
Latvian:
heroīns
— powerful and addictive drug
Lithuanian:
heroinas
— powerful and addictive drug
Macedonian:
херои́н
(heroín)
— powerful and addictive drug
Marathi:
हेरोइन
(heroin)
— powerful and addictive drug
Norwegian:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Norwegian Nynorsk:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Persian:
هروئین
(hero'in)
— powerful and addictive drug
Polish:
heroina
— powerful and addictive drug
Portuguese:
heroína
— powerful and addictive drug
Portuguese:
cavalo
— powerful and addictive drug
Romanian:
heroină
— powerful and addictive drug
Russian:
герои́н
(geroín)
— powerful and addictive drug
Serbo-Croatian:
херо̀ӣн
— powerful and addictive drug
Serbo-Croatian:
heròīn
— powerful and addictive drug
Slovak:
heroín
— powerful and addictive drug
Slovene:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Spanish:
heroína
— powerful and addictive drug
Spanish:
caballo
— powerful and addictive drug
Swahili:
heroini
— powerful and addictive drug
Swedish:
heroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Thai:
เฮโรอีน
(hay-roh-een)
— powerful and addictive drug
Turkish:
eroin
— powerful and addictive drug
Ukrainian:
герої́н
(herojín)
— powerful and addictive drug
Urdu:
ہیروئین
(heroīn)
— powerful and addictive drug
Vietnamese:
bạch phiến
— powerful and addictive drug
