noun, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A clinging to unreasonable or unfounded hopes. colloquial, derogatory, idiomatic, uncountable

   "Hopium can make you see potential in the grimmest set of circumstances."

Example

More examples

"I had already given up on the prospects of victory, but after yesterday's performance I'm high on hopium again."

Etymology

Blend of hope + opium, as though it were a drug; regarding the surface analysis as hope + -ium, see copium § Etymology.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.