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Alcohol, weed, poppers, ... etc. All those different substances produce feelings of pleasure and happiness. Do they share a hypernym in English?

Adam
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  • Abusable substances... – Jim Sep 02 '18 at 21:16
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    Recreational or psychoactive drugs. – Jason Bassford Sep 02 '18 at 21:21
  • How wide a net do you wish to cast, S Adam? Would you include coffeine as well? Sugar? Adrenaline? @Jason Alcohol is not usually included in the group of recreational drugs. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 02 '18 at 21:24
  • Enhighteners? :) I do not believe there is such a word in English at present. – Slavic Sep 02 '18 at 21:26
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    @JanusBahsJacquet From Wikipedia: "Recreational drugs include alcohol (as found in beer, wine, and distilled spirits); cannabis and hashish; nicotine (tobacco); caffeine (coffee and tea); and the controlled substances listed as illegal drugs . . ." – Jason Bassford Sep 02 '18 at 21:26
  • Don't forget running marathons, being at high altitudes, or going without sleep for several days. Or do you only care about drugs? – tchrist Sep 02 '18 at 21:30
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    a velly velly broad question! – lbf Sep 02 '18 at 21:31
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    @Jason That definitely does not tally with my experience of the term. Most people I have heard use the term have used it in juxtaposition to alcohol (and absolutely coffee and tea). ‘Recreational drug use’ in my experience refers mostly to young people smoking weed or snorting lines on the weekend, not to having a cup of tea for breakfast. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 02 '18 at 21:36
  • I have never heard "high" to describe the effect of caffeine. Caffeine tends to enhance concentration rather than to diminish it. – Theresa Sep 02 '18 at 21:40
  • @Theresa Amphetamines like Adderall are also known for enhancing concentration. That doesn't mean it isn't a drug. – tchrist Sep 02 '18 at 21:46
  • @JanusBahsJacquet To a biologist, a drug is simply any chemical substance that is administered or taken to incite a biological effect in the body of an organism. – tchrist Sep 02 '18 at 21:48
  • I have also never heard the effect of adderall as a high. The question asks about high, not effects in general. – Theresa Sep 02 '18 at 21:50
  • @tchrist To a biologist, surely, a drug is any chemical substances that causes such an effect, whether it’s administered or taken specifically to do so or not—but my comment was about common usage of the term recreational drug (which I don’t think means anything in particular to a biologist), not about what constitutes a drug in technical terms. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 02 '18 at 21:50
  • Whether something is a drug or not is really an argument similar to whether humans are animals. We are and we aren't. Depends how you define it. Also "recreational" is a strange word in this context, because recreational marijuana use sounds right and recreational tea use/drinking doesn't sound right. Hell, recreational tobacco smoking sounds quite odd. – Zebrafish Sep 02 '18 at 21:55
  • Related: https://english.stackexchange.com/q/390175, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/387392, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/57256, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/214611, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/147148, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/158365, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/170613, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/7553, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/409228, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/65982, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/205856, https://english.stackexchange.com/q/301369, and many many more. – tchrist Sep 02 '18 at 21:56
  • @Theresa If you've never heard the effect of amphetamines described as a high, then you haven't talked to people who've done much of them. :) Consider the meth-head’s continual state of being wired. They’re definitely high. Trust me: I’ve certainly been high on caffeine before! Somebody who's wired is high just as much as someone who’s tipsy is. – tchrist Sep 02 '18 at 21:57
  • “Hey dude, will there be, like, *party favors*?” – tchrist Sep 02 '18 at 22:03
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    Close voters please see the accepted answer. – Kris Sep 03 '18 at 09:21
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    It is rather puzzling why this question was closed. Contrary to what the closing banner claims, it is not a request for an ideal word, and the answer to it is not heavily context dependent; it is a simple request for a hypernym. The one answer that was posted before closing may or may not be the best one; the best way to find out whether it is the best one is to reopen the question open and see whether anybody posts a better one. – jsw29 Dec 19 '20 at 22:01

1 Answers1

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"Intoxicant" covers all of your examples. It has a root in "toxic", poisonous. Intoxicant is commonly used in legal parlance.

"Drug" is commonly used for all of your examples except alcohol, although alcohol is also a drug and alcohol can be used as a medicine.

"Addictive substances" also fits, although that's two words.

Cheers for recognising that alcohol can also cause a high. That use has become less frequent since the 1960s. The Kingston Trio's song, "Scotch and Soda" has the lyric, "Baby, do I feel high, oh me, oh my" for both the alcohol-induced high and the emotionally-based high.

Theresa
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  • Unfortunately, this doesn't cover marathons or altitudes or sleeplessness. But maybe all they care about is drugs; hard to tell. – tchrist Sep 02 '18 at 21:32
  • I did took the question to be aimed at highs produced by introducing something into the body, rather than by the body's natural processes. Romantic love can cause a high that's based on human interaction and hormones. – Theresa Sep 02 '18 at 21:36
  • Something doesn't sound right about this answer. Intoxicants would include everything that's toxic, including poisons which aren't anywhere used for recreation or spiritual reasons or to get high. In other words they won't give you a high but they may kill you. – Zebrafish Sep 02 '18 at 22:01
  • Something poisonous is usually said to be toxic, rather than an intoxicant. Some recreational drugs can kill, too: heroin overdose, stroke from cocaine. – Theresa Sep 02 '18 at 22:10
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    @tchrist Naturally produced substances such as endorphins, adrenaline and so on definitely produce effects similar to intoxication by introduced substances which is why marathons, altitude and sleeplessness produce this sort of effect. It's also why we speak of "being intoxicated by her beauty" or having an intoxicating experience. If something can intoxicate you, even if its not a drug or, indeed, anything with a physical existence its still an intoxicant. – BoldBen Sep 03 '18 at 07:01