How to say “drug” in 32 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- drogas/ˈdɾoɡas/ Spanish
- 毒品/tu³⁵ pʰin²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ Chinese
- 마약[ma̠ja̠k̚] Korean
- סם/sam/ Hebrew
- դեղ/deʁ/ Armenian
“drug” in Spanish: drogas · French: drogue · Portuguese: droga · Chinese: 毒品 · Korean: 마약 · Turkish: uyuşturucu
It is commonest in Chinese, where 毒品 is the 532nd most used word.
Drug in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans dwelms/ˈdwæləms/ #1,853
- Armenian դեղ/deʁ/ drug, medicine, medicament #1,310
- Basque droga/droɡa/ #639
- Bengali নেশাখোর/neʃakʰoɾ/ drug addict #2,353
- Bosnian droga/drǒːɡa/ #1,872
- Bulgarian лекарство[lɛˈkarstvo] medicine, drug #2,016
- Catalan drogues[ˈdɾɔ.ɣəs] #893
- Chinese 毒品/tu³⁵ pʰin²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ drug; narcotic #532
- Croatian droga/drǒːɡa/ #1,888
- Czech drogy[ˈdroɡɪ] drug, recreational drug #1,180
- English lucy/ˈlusi/ The drug LSD #2,074
- Estonian ravim/ˈrɑvim/ drug, medicine #1,994
- Finnish huumeita/ˈhuːmeita/ drug, narcotic #1,626
- French drogue/dʁɔɡ/ #1,042
- Hebrew סם/sam/ drug, narcotic #813
- Icelandic lyf[ˈlɪːv] drug, medicine #1,001
- Korean 마약[ma̠ja̠k̚] drug, narcotic #535
- Macedonian дрога[ˈdrɔɡa] drug, narcotic #607
- Malayalam മയക്കുമരുന്ന്/mɐjɐkkumɐɾunnɨ/ drug used for recreational use #676
- Persian دارو[d̪ɒː.ɹúː] medicine, drug, medication #796
- Polish narkotyki/nar.kɔˈtɘ.ki/ #2,142
- Portuguese droga/ˈdɾɔ.ɡɐ/ #1,044
- Romanian medicamente/me.di.kaˈmen.te/ medicine, drug, medication #1,697
- Russian лекарство[lʲɪˈkarstvə] medicine, drug #2,173
- Serbian droga/drǒːɡa/ #1,930
- Slovak liek/liˈek/ medicine, pharmaceutical drug #742
- Slovenian mamilo/mamìːlɔ/ #1,891
- Spanish drogas/ˈdɾoɡas/ #1,008
- Swedish droger/ˈdroːɡɛr/ a drug, a narcotic #1,368
- Telugu మందులు/man̪d̪ulu/ medicine, physic, drug #466
- Turkish uyuşturucu/uj.uʃ.tu.ɾu.dʒu/ drug, narcotic #659
- Vietnamese thuốc[tʰuək̚˧˦] medicine; medicament; drug #393
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.