dope

I. n

1.

an illicit drug, narcotics. The word was first applied to stupefying drugs such as opium and heroin at the turn of the 20th century, and remained limited to this context until the 1960s. In the late 1960s hippy drug users began to apply the then almost archaic form ironically to their preferred soft drug, cannabis (marihuana and hashish), and this remains the most common use today.

► 'He said: "You know how you leave dope lying around? Well, she ate some and she went berserk. She hasn't liked it much since".' (News of the World, 29 October 1989)

2.

information, news. In this sense the word has been used at least since World War I, especially in America. The word is derived from the idea of something dense or viscous, embodied in the Dutch word doop, meaning dip (in the sense of a sauce in which other food may be dipped).

3.

a foolish or stupid person

II. adj

excellent, fashionable, admirable. A vogue term of approbation which origi-nated in American usage in the early 1990s and by 1995 had been adopted for fashionable speech by British and Australian adolescents.

► 'He's dope - I'd go out with him.' (California Man, US film, 1992) 'Bangin'sounds and dope d.j.s.' (Disco poster at King's College, London University, September 1995)