panacea
noun
Did you know?
The maxim “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” isn’t true, but belief in a miraculous botanical “cure for whatever ails ya” has existed for millennia and is at the root of the word panacea. In current use, panacea most often refers to a remedy—medical or otherwise—that inevitably falls far short of what some claim or hope it can do, but the word’s Latin and Greek forebears referred to plants with legit healing properties, including mints and yarrows. Both the Latin word panacēa and its Greek antecedent panákeia (from the word panakēs, meaning “all-healing”) were applied especially to flowering herbs (genus Opopanax) of the carrot family used to treat various ailments.
Examples of panacea in a Sentence
Alon Goren, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
In a world where shoppers regularly groan about the banality of modern-day shopping, Stitch Fix sought to be the panacea by offering accessible personal stylists that could design and ship outfits specific to a customer’s unique needs and preferences.
—Gabrielle Fonrouge, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2025
But this doesn’t mean cortisol cocktails are a stress-busting panacea.
—Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 17 July 2025
But tariffs are not a panacea that will revive the manufacturing industry, Pepperdine’s Parsons said.
—John Towfighi, CNN Money, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for panacea
Cite this Entry
“Panacea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panacea. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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panacea
noun
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