as in harmless
not causing or being capable of causing injury or hurt
the otherwise anodyne comments sounded quite inflammatory when taken out of context
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in sedative
something (as a drug) that relieves pain
the dentist prescribed an anodyne after the root canal
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in narcotic
something that soothes, calms, or induces passivity or a sense of security
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of anodyne
Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2025
Even Coldplay’s anodyne frontman Chris Martin couldn’t ignore their response.
—Steven Levy, Wired News, 22 Aug. 2025
Shannon Pufahl, The New York Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2020
Ten years ago, lazy auto writers used the Toyota Camry as shorthand for anodyne transportation, a car for people who think of cars as appliances.
—Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 13 Mar. 2020
See All Example Sentences for anodyne
Adjective
The kitchen needs to turn out three meals a day that are creative enough to draw in finicky locals, anodyne enough to satisfy an international clientele, and sturdy enough to survive the room-service gauntlet.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2025
Even Coldplay’s anodyne frontman Chris Martin couldn’t ignore their response.
—Steven Levy, Wired News, 22 Aug. 2025
Noun
This is the confluence that defines the spectacle: statistics, like photographs, have a kind of moral authority, one whose meaning may repel us but one that nevertheless encourages certainty, and thus anodyne.
—Shannon Pufahl, The New York Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2020
Ten years ago, lazy auto writers used the Toyota Camry as shorthand for anodyne transportation, a car for people who think of cars as appliances.
—Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 13 Mar. 2020
See All Example Sentences for anodyne
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anodyne
Adjective
-
Here are five times what seemed like a harmless toy turned into a puzzling moment online.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Nov. 2025
-
This is usually harmless and goes away when intake is reduced.—
Barbie Cervoni,
Verywell Health,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
That specific request was made because those three drugs combine to make BAM, a powerful animal sedative that authorities allege Barry used to kill his wife.—
Chris Spargo,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Florida’s lethal injections are carried out with a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Jailhouse records show that Smith was disciplined at least five times between 2010 and 2017 for infractions including self-mutilation, drug use and possession of narcotics or marijuana.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
2 Nov. 2025
-
According to one House Democrat, lawmakers were told the narcotics being targeted in the shipments were cocaine, not fentanyl.—
Anne Flaherty,
ABC News,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
All worth watching, though perhaps with seasonal factors favorable, earnings clocking in near a 12% annual growth pace and credit markets showing little stress, a modest wobble is enough to skim away some froth and revert the market to its benign trend.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
5 Nov. 2025
-
However, consuming a lot of beta carotene-rich foods may cause a benign, temporary condition called carotenodermia, which causes the skin to turn yellowish-orange.—
Carrie Madormo,
Verywell Health,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Tylenol falls under the umbrella of two other medication classes: analgesics (pain relievers) and antipyretics (fever reducers), says Dr. Anureet Walia, a pain management specialist with UI Health Care.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
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The draft guidance could shape clinical trial designs, labeling considerations and FDA review expectations for future prescription non-opioid analgesics seeking approval for chronic pain indications, potentially influencing investment and development priorities in the pharmaceutical industry.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
That was my first experience with opiates.—
Ilana Kaplan,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
-
These chemicals can be even more potent than other opiates and produce comparable hallucinogenic effects, increasing the desirability of the cut fentanyl on the market.—
David Ferrara,
The Enquirer,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Having no cool aunt of my own and no elder sisters, just teenage babysitters and camp counselors (each with their own unique but tenuous grasp on anatomy and reproductive science), the book felt warm, inviting, and—perhaps most important to my terrified, bleeding, self—safe.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
-
The two men exchange grateful texts later that evening, home safe and stumped about where to go next.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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After ambushing Fuller at her mansion, Teddy and his accomplice/cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) knock her unconscious with a tranquilizer and load her into the backseat of her own car.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
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After that incident, the department changed its approach and shot the remaining three adults with tranquilizer darts rather than a firearm, then euthanized them on the ground with injections of the type a sick animal might receive when being put to sleep by a veterinarian.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Anodyne.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anodyne. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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