# dope

> English word · Noun · IPA [dəʊp] · frequency rank #8,275

## Definitions
1. Any viscous liquid or paste, such as a lubricant, used in preparing a surface.
2. An absorbent material used to hold a liquid.
3. Any varnish used to coat a part, such as an airplane wing or a hot-air balloon in order to waterproof, strengthen, etc.
4. Any of various recreational substances
5. Any of various recreational substances:
6. Any of various recreational substances:
7. Information, usually from an inside source, originally in horse racing and other sports.
8. Ballistic data on previously fired rounds, used to calculate the required hold over a target.
9. A stupid person.
10. Dessert topping.
11. A soft drink.

## Etymology
From Dutch doop (“thick dipping sauce”), from Dutch dopen (“to dip”), from Middle Dutch dopen, from Old Dutch *dōpen, from Frankish *daupijan, from Proto-Germanic *daupijaną.
“Doop” in the sense “narcotic drug” ultimately refers to viscous opium juice, the drug of choice of the ancient Greeks; “insider information” perhaps from knowing which horse had been doped in a race. Sense of "stupid person" perhaps following from the drug sense (i.e. relating to those intoxicated on opium), compare dope up. Related to English dip and German taufen. Unrelated to dopamine.

## Easily confused with
- **DP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dp)
- **due** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-due)
- **dot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dot)
- **dye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dye)
- **DOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dos)
- **dow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dow)
- **Dre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dre)
- **DPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dps)
- **dup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dup)
- **DSP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dsp)
- **dor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dor)
- **DPP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dpp)
- **DWP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dwp)
- **dox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dox)
- **down** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-down)
- **drop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-drop)
- **dude** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dude)
- **duke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-duke)
- **dose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-dose)
- **Doug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dope-vs-doug)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ddope`, `doep`, `doppe`, `dpoe`, `odpe`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dope