anodyne

1 of 2

adjective

an·​o·​dyne ˈa-nə-ˌdīn 

1

: serving to alleviate pain

the anodyne properties of certain drugs

2

: not likely to offend or arouse tensions : innocuous

… his speech contained a single anodyne reference to the man who preceded him.

—John F. Burns

anodyne

2 of 2

noun

1

: something that soothes, calms, or comforts

The sweetness of sojourn there … was an anodyne for the sorrows the pilgrims had endured …

—Amy Kelly

2

: a drug that allays pain

Did you know?

Anodyne came to English via Latin from Greek anṓdynos (meaning "free from pain, causing no pain, harmless, allaying pain"), and it has been used as both an adjective and a noun ("something that soothes, calms, or comforts") since the 16th century. It has sometimes been used of things that dull or lull the senses and render painful experiences less so. British statesman Edmund Burke used it this way, for example, in 1790 when he referred to flattery as an "anodyne draft of oblivion" that renders one (in this particular case, the deposed King Louis XVI) forgetful of the flatterer's true feelings. Nowadays, in addition to describing things that dull pain, anodyne can also refer to that which doesn't cause discomfort in the first place.

Synonyms

Adjective

• benign
• harmless
• hurtless
• innocent
• innocuous
• inoffensive
• safe
• white

Noun

• analgesic
• anesthetic
• painkiller

Examples of anodyne in a Sentence

Adjective

the otherwise anodyne comments sounded quite inflammatory when taken out of context

Noun

the dentist prescribed an anodyne after the root canal

as an anodyne for the stress and superficiality of the modern world, there's nothing better than reading a literary classic of substance and insight

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The Trump administration has been relentless about scrubbing government websites of all mentions of climate change, no matter how anodyne, but this was gentle stuff. —Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 6 Apr. 2025

Take something as seemingly anodyne as solving math problems, which can sometimes be a surprising weakness in LLMs. —Steven Levy, Wired News, 28 Mar. 2025

Noun

The vision is an anodyne of rage. —Sasha Frere-Jones, Harper’s Magazine , 4 Nov. 2022

Peterson pauses, running his hand along the blue aluminum-anodyne actuator machined to match the length of Daniel’s right thigh. —John Brant, Popular Mechanics, 27 Apr. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Latin anōdynus "allaying pain," borrowed from Greek anṓdynos "free from pain, causing no pain, harmless, allaying pain," from an- an- + -ōdynos, adjective derivative (with compositional lengthening) of odýnē "pain," of uncertain origin

Note: In earlier etymological dictionaries (Frisk, Chantraine), odýnē is taken be a derivative, with a heteroclitic suffix *-ur-/*-un-, of the verbal base *h₁ed- "eat" (see eat entry 1), with the assumed change of e > o by vowel assimilation before a following -u-; allegedly comparable are Armenian erkn "labor pains, grief," Old Irish idu "pain, pangs of childbirth." More recently a different hypothesis proposes that the base of odýnē is a verbal root *h₃ed- "bite, sting," seen perhaps in Lithuanian úodas "gnat" (< *h₃od-o-). (See R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2010.)

Noun

borrowed from Latin anōdynum "something allaying pain," borrowed from Greek anṓdynon "freedom from pain," noun derivative of anṓdynos "free from pain, causing no pain, harmless, allaying pain" — more at anodyne entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1543, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

circa 1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for anodyne

• acridine
• alkaline
• andesine
• anticline
• arginine
• asinine
• atropine
• benzidine
• borderline
• byzantine
• calamine
• caroline

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Medical Definition

anodyne

1 of 2 adjective

an·​o·​dyne ˈan-ə-ˌdīn 

: serving to ease pain

anodyne

2 of 2 noun

: a drug that allays pain