opium

 
Pronunciation: /ˈəʊpɪəm/

noun

[mass noun]
  • a reddish-brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, used illicitly as a narcotic and occasionally in medicine as an analgesic: he was addicted to opium

Phrases

the opium of the people (or masses)

something regarded as inducing a false and unrealistic sense of contentment among people.
[translating the German phrase Opium des Volks, used by Marx in reference to religion (1844)]

Origin:

late Middle English: via Latin from Greek opion 'poppy juice', from opos 'juice', from an Indo-European root meaning 'water'