placebo effect
noun
: improvement in the condition of a patient that occurs in response to treatment but cannot be considered due to the specific treatment used
Examples of placebo effect in a Sentence
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This result surprised Steininger, who had assumed that the decreased pain reported by people in previous studies was mostly due to a kind of placebo effect.
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Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Granted, that’s not all that much; as the user can usually physically feel when a device is turned on, there’s no easy way to control for the placebo effect.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2014
Furthermore, there’s the whole placebo effect or in this case maybe the vacebo effect.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
Here, the explanation given was of placebo effects and how placebos may decrease PMS symptoms.
—New Atlas, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for placebo effect
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Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Granted, that’s not all that much; as the user can usually physically feel when a device is turned on, there’s no easy way to control for the placebo effect.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2014
Furthermore, there’s the whole placebo effect or in this case maybe the vacebo effect.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
Here, the explanation given was of placebo effects and how placebos may decrease PMS symptoms.
—New Atlas, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for placebo effect
Cite this Entry
“Placebo effect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placebo%20effect. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
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