Addiction to or the habitual use of barbiturate drugs, particularly barbital.
From 'barbital' plus the suffix '-ism,' meaning a condition, practice, or state associated with a particular thing.
Barbitalism was a serious public health crisis in the mid-20th century when doctors overprescribed these sedatives without fully understanding their addiction potential—it's a cautionary tale that now shapes how we regulate powerful medications.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.