placebo
noun
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Doctors doing research on new treatments for disease often give one group a placebo while a second group takes the new medication. Since those in the placebo group usually believe they're getting the real thing, their own hopeful attitude may bring about improvement in their condition. Thus, for the real drug to be considered effective, it must produce even better results than the placebo. Placebos have another use as well. A doctor who suspects that a patient's physical symptoms are psychologically produced may prescribe a placebo in the hope that mentally produced symptoms can also be mentally cured.
Examples of placebo in a Sentence
Becky Upham, EverydayHealth.com, 8 Oct. 2025
The study, conducted by a research team in Denmark, included an analysis of 19 separate clinical trials that evaluated tramadol versus a placebo in treating various types of chronic pain.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
In a particularly difficult-to-treat group – those whose disease had not responded to JAK inhibitors – the response rate was 35% higher than placebo.
—New Atlas, 7 Oct. 2025
Rates of nausea and vomiting among those patients were 13% and 11% above placebo, respectively.
—Annika Kim Constantino,bertha Coombs, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for placebo
Cite this Entry
“Placebo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placebo. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
placebo
noun
from Latin placebo "I shall please"
Medical Definition
placebo
noun
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