as in preventive
concerned with or serving to keep something from happening
the many prophylactic measures that city officials could have taken to reduce the scope of the disaster
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Recent Examples of prophylactic
Or that players need to change their approach to off-season training to account for the quick lateral movements that can lead to acute injuries, or that team trainers need to be more prophylactic and smarter about understanding the way the body compensates for instabilities.
—
Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2025
These include prophylactic vaccines, which prevent cancer, and therapeutic ones, which protect women who have already had breast cancer from getting it again.
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 1 Oct. 2025
Two injections of lenacapavir every six months offer near-perfect protection; older prophylactic treatments require daily pills, a challenge in countries with weak health systems.
—Preeti Jha, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2025
The report notes, though, that only women with a high risk of preeclampsia should use prophylactic low aspirin to prevent early pregancy loss, fetal growth restriction, stillbirth or early delivery.
—Max Rego, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prophylactic
Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2025
These include prophylactic vaccines, which prevent cancer, and therapeutic ones, which protect women who have already had breast cancer from getting it again.
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 1 Oct. 2025
Two injections of lenacapavir every six months offer near-perfect protection; older prophylactic treatments require daily pills, a challenge in countries with weak health systems.
—Preeti Jha, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2025
The report notes, though, that only women with a high risk of preeclampsia should use prophylactic low aspirin to prevent early pregancy loss, fetal growth restriction, stillbirth or early delivery.
—Max Rego, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prophylactic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prophylactic
Adjective
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Shared clinical decision-making helps tailor care to individual risks and is already used for several vaccines and preventive health decisions.—
Fran Kritz,
Verywell Health,
10 Apr. 2026
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Additionally, unmarried individuals are less likely to seek preventive care or cancer screenings.—
Vanessa Etienne,
PEOPLE,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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This measure is mostly preventative and coyotes typically won’t seek a confrontation.—
Caden Perry,
jsonline.com,
9 Apr. 2026
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The changes aim to eliminate what officials described as stigmatizing language and reflect advances in preventative care.—
Eric Henderson,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prophylactic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prophylactic. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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