as in panacea
something that cures all ills or problems a quack nostrum for cancer of all types

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nostrum His personal integrity conflicts with liberal nostrums, resulting in Fish and Poinsettia’s bizarre repulsion-attraction rapport. Armond White, National Review, 25 June 2025 Kennedy has promoted almost useless nostrums against measles, such as Vitamin A, while describing vaccination as a personal choice. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025 Eight years later, Democrats have devolved into nostrums about appealing to the middle class, ditching academic language, and finding a uniting message. Alexander Nazaryan, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Mar. 2025 Population trends today should raise serious questions about all the old nostrums that humans are somehow hard-wired to replace themselves to continue the species. Nicholas Eberstadt, Foreign Affairs, 10 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for nostrum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nostrum
Noun
  • As the lamprey crisis worsened, various chemical companies sent compounds to the lab, which was searching for a panacea.
    Katie Thornton, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Amazon delivery contractors quickly learn that bailing is no panacea.
    Bloomberg, Mercury News, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • There is no magic elixir to consistently scheme easy buckets in the final minutes of contests.
    Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The other trial compares the same proprietary cannabis elixir with opioids, revealing that patients who used the elixir experienced fewer gastrointestinal side effects like constipation than when using painkillers.
    NPR, NPR, 21 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • And even then, the discriminatory remedy must be tailored to that conduct.
    Andrew Quinio, Oc Register, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Most healthcare providers recommend stopping all supplements (including vitamins, herbs, and homeopathic remedies) at least 10–14 days before your procedure.
    Ayesha Gulzar, Verywell Health, 28 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Imagine a time when the most advanced biotechnologies—therapies that cure cancer and Alzheimer's, protect us from pandemics and fuel our economy—are controlled not by America, but by our chief global adversary.
    Sen. Todd Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Allyson Berent, a veterinarian and chief science officer at the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST), spoke of her daughter born with Angelman syndrome, a devastating diagnosis for which there is no cure.
    Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 29 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But with its long list of as many as 80 ingredients and high status, theriac was expensive and exclusive.
    Elizabeth Heath, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Zinc lozenges suddenly became the theriac to cure all ills; masks and hand-sanitizer, the ambergris and zedoary to ward off infection.
    Spencer Strub, The New York Review of Books, 25 Mar. 2020
Noun
  • Post- and peri-menopausal women, who have long been left to deal with the side effects of the naturally declining levels of testosterone that accompany aging, are turning to low doses of testosterone as a possible cure-all.
    Quispe López, Them., 24 Oct. 2025
  • Sheehan, like Sasaki, is not a cure-all.
    Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Nostrum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nostrum. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.

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