Acidheads

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A slang term for individuals who frequently use or are addicted to hallucinogenic substances, particularly LSD or similar drugs
2. Describing those who exhibit extreme behavior or altered perceptions due to the heavy use of such psychoactive drugs
3. Referring to a subculture of people who embrace hallucinogenic experiences as a lifestyle choice, often altering their worldview and social interactions

Etymology: "Acidheads" is the plural of "acidhead", a slang noun for a frequent user of LSD. The first half is "acid", the drug's street name, which was borrowed from the chemistry term for the pure synthetic compound and then applied to the drug itself. The second half is the familiar English "-head", a suffix attached to a noun to name a person strongly associated with that thing, as in "dopehead" or "pothead". The pattern is an ordinary one, so the coinage is a plain combination rather than a story about a particular inventor. The suffix "-head" itself is old. It descends from Old English "hēafod", meaning the top part of the body, and it has been used as a combining form since at least the Middle English period. Its jump from literal anatomy to a label for someone defined by a fixation is the kind of extension English has made repeatedly, and "acidhead" follows that route.