placebo
placebo Lexical Profile
placebo Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A harmless, pharmacologically inert substance or fake procedure given to a patient for its psychological benefit or used as a control in clinical trials to test the efficacy of a real drug.
"Half of the participants in the clinical study received the experimental medication, while the other half were given a harmless placebo."
A measure, statement, or action intended merely to soothe, humor, or reassure someone rather than to solve an underlying problem.
"Critics argued that the committee's minor policy revision was merely a political placebo designed to quiet public outrage."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'placebo' with 'nocebo'; while a placebo produces beneficial effects through positive expectation, a nocebo causes harmful or unpleasant side effects driven by negative expectations about a treatment.
• Rhymes for placebo
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Latin 'placebo' ('I shall please'), from 'placere' ('to please'). It originally referred to the opening word of the Roman Catholic Vespers for the Dead ('Placebo Domino in regione vivorum'), later coming to describe a sycophantic flatterer before acquiring its medical sense of a soothing, inactive remedy in the late 18th century.