Agent Orange

noun

: an herbicide widely used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War that is composed of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and contains dioxin as a contaminant

Examples of Agent Orange in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Agent Orange Relief Act of 2025 would, among other things, provide the same level of benefits to the children of Vietnam veterans regardless if their mother or father served. —Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 28 Apr. 2026

On view concurrently with the MAC exhibition is a sculpture Colón made for El Yunque, the Puerto Rican rain forest—a natural wonder that was also a testing site for Agent Orange. —Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 7 Apr. 2026

Six percent of people enrolled in this study had exposure to Agent Orange. —Angus Chen, STAT, 27 Mar. 2026

The latter was used to produce Agent Orange, an herbicide sprayed by the US military during the Vietnam War. —Michal Ruprecht, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

so called from the identifying color stripe on its container

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

Agent Orange

noun

-ˈär-inj, -ˈär(-ə)nj, -ˈȯr-inj, -ˈȯr(-ə)nj 

: an herbicide widely used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War that is composed of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and contains dioxin as a contaminant