Drought stress poses a significant threat to wheat cultivation and productivity worldwide. The application of exogenous growth regulators (GRs) has shown potential in improving the physiological, biochemical and molecular responses of wheat, thereby enhancing drought tolerance and ultimately increasing grain yield. Drought is particularly prevalent in arid and semi-arid regions, making the use of GRs a strategy of great significance for yield improvement. In this study, an experiment was conducted to assess the effects of GRs in mitigating drought stress in wheat. Salicylic acid (SA) and paclobutrazol (PBZ), both at 300 mg l-1, along with Ethephon (ETH) at 400 mg l-1, were applied as foliar spray at the crown root initiation, booting, and milking stages. These treatments were applied to plots under both drought stress (irrigation withheld at respective stages) and fully irrigated conditions. Drought stress, particularly during the reproductive stage, significantly reduced plant growth, pigment content, water status, and yield traits. However, these negative effects were alleviated by the foliar application of growth regulators. Among them, SA was the more effective in enhancing wheat performance under both control and drought conditions. Under drought stress at the reproductive stage, SA increased total chlorophyll, carotenoids, proline, lipoxygenase activity, malondialdehyde content and plant height by 63.3 %, 137.5 %, 87.5 %, 44.5 %, 57.69 % and 9.70 %, respectively, compared to the control. It also mitigated oxidative stress by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities: catalase (22.22 %), peroxidase (25.92 %), superoxide dismutase (177.5 %) and ascorbate peroxidase (109.2 %). Furthermore, SA improved leaf water potential (8.96 %), osmotic potential (11.67 %) and grain yield (15.79 %) under drought stress, over the control treatment. qRT-PCR analysis confirmed a significantly upregulation of genes related to proline synthesis and antioxidant defense, including P5CS (68.68 %), MnSOD (42.51 %), Cat3-A1 (78.85 %), Prx113-A (98 %) and WAPX1 (87.62 %) compared to the control. Correlation analysis showed a positive association between pigment content and seed yield, and a negative correlation between water status and pigment levels. Overall, SA application at crown root initiation, booting, and milking stages effectively mitigated drought-induced damage by enhancing physiological and biochemical traits.