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Metal oxides decorated carbon nanomaterials, as an electrode material have been well explored in the field of electrochemical sensor. However, instead of using the high concentration of graphene oxide (GO), we try to explore the influence of minimum quantity of GO in material synthesis. Here we demonstrate the hydrothermal synthesis of low-cost cerium (Ce)-doped tungsten oxide/graphene oxide (CeW/GO) composite for the precise electrochemical detection of antibiotic drug furazolidone (FUZ). For the synthesis of composite, 40 μg/mL concentration of GO has been utilized. Then, several physicochemical and electrochemical techniques were used to examine the morphological, structural, and electrochemical characteristics of the CeW/GO composite. Interestingly, the composite material has a porous-coral-like structure, which is being described here for the first time. The GO nanosheets cover the CeW and make the smooth surface and lead to the porous structure. Then we looked into the analytical behavior of CeW/GO composite modified glassy carbon electrode for the application towards the electrochemical detection of the FUZ using the voltammetric technique. The effect of experimental conditions, including loading concentration of active material, pH, scan rate, accumulation time, and concentration of FUZ, were analyzed with respect to the reduction peak current response of FUZ. At the optimum conditions, the fabricated sensor has a low detection limit (0.054 μM), appreciable sensitivity (2.5 μA μM−1 cm−2) with a wide linear range (1–260 μM), and the decent anti-interference ability for FUZ detection. Furthermore, the developed sensor was successfully used to assess the FUZ concentration in the human urine samples, yielding satisfactory results. [Display omitted] • porous-coral-like CeW/GO micro balls composite material was designed for the first time. • The CeW/GO composite was employed as a novel electrocatalyst to detect the furazolidone (antibiotic drug). • A detailed study was made on electrochemical performance of the developed sensor. • The performance of CeW/GO/GCE was comparable with the noble metals (Pt, Re, and Au) based modified electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]