Dictionary

Benadryl en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɛnədɹɪl/

Etymology

Marketing name. From benzhydryl diethylaminoethyl ether.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) An antihistamine medication used to stop allergies or as a sleep aid.
   • The Benadryl was for sleep, not allergies. I'd been having this thing where I woke up every night at two a.m. 2024, Miranda July, All Fours, Canongate Books, →ISBN:
   • Benadryl, ZzzQuil and other drugs with diphenhydramine can also make you drowsy, since histamine helps the brain stay alert, said Dr. Zachary Rubin, an Illinois-based allergist and author of the upcoming book, “All About Allergies.” 2025 July 15, Simar Bajaj, “Does Benadryl Do More Harm Than Good?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • The “Benadryl challenge”, wherein participants took a large amount of antihistamines in an attempt to produce hallucinogenic effects, led to at least one death. 2022 October 30, Kari Paul, “What TikTok does to your mental health: ‘It’s embarrassing we know so little’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • Reading his posts as posted, sitting in my NOBE studio, railing Benadryls, getting progressively less attractive to ex bae due to domestic overexposure, I was rapt. 2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi, Hachette, →ISBN:

Forms

Relateds

diphenhydramine