antiretroviral

adjective

an·​ti·​re·​tro·​vi·​ral ˌan-tē-ˈre-trō-ˌvī-rəl 

ˌan-tī-

: acting, used, or effective against retroviruses

antiretroviral drugs

antiretroviral therapy

antiretroviral noun

Examples of antiretroviral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One of the patients said she and her husband were diagnosed with HIV in 2019 and immediately started antiretroviral therapy, receiving the medications at no cost through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. —CBS News, 27 June 2025

This means that people who are on effective antiretroviral therapy and maintain an undetectable viral load cannot pass the virus on. —Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025

People who use antiretroviral medications can reduce the viral load of HIV in the body to undetectable levels, which can stop them from passing it to others. —Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025

Certain antiretroviral medications need an acidic environment to be absorbed into your system. —Alex Yampolsky, Verywell Health, 15 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for antiretroviral

• adenoviral
• antiviral
• retroviral
• chiral
• spiral
• viral

Medical Definition

antiretroviral

1 of 2 adjective

an·​ti·​ret·​ro·​vi·​ral -ˈre-trō-ˌvī-rəl 

variants also anti-retroviral

: acting, used, or effective against retroviruses

All four drugs, which inhibit HIV protease and thus interfere with viral maturation and replication, are the most potent antiretroviral agents available to treat patients with HIV disease.

—The Journal of the American Medical Association

antiretroviral therapy

see highly active antiretroviral therapy

antiretroviral

2 of 2 noun

variants also anti-retroviral

: an agent effective against retroviruses

Current anti-HIV drugs, or antiretrovirals, bind to specific HIV enzymes and impede their activity.

—Douglas D. Richman, Scientific American