verb
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to cover or impregnate (a wound, etc) with an ointment, cream, etc
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to treat (a patient) with a medicine
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to add a medication to (a bandage, shampoo, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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demedicateverb (used with object)
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overmedicateverb (used with object)
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premedicateverb (used with object)
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medicativeadjective
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unmedicatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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medicatesimple
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medicatessimple
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have medicatedperfect
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has medicatedperfect
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am medicatingprogressive
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are medicatingprogressive
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is medicatingprogressive
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have been medicatingperfect progressive
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has been medicatingperfect progressive
Past
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medicatedsimple
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had medicatedperfect
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was medicatingprogressive
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were medicatingprogressive
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had been medicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of medicate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin medicātus “healed,” past participle of medicāre, medicārī “to heal,” from medicus “physician”; see medical
Explanation
To medicate is to treat an illness with some kind of medicine. You might not need to medicate your bad cold, but you'll most likely need to medicate your strep throat. A doctor will medicate diseases that are diagnosed and can be treated with medicine. If your doctor, for example, decides to medicate you with antibiotics, it means she believes you have an infection caused by bacteria. Medicate comes from medication, from the Late Latin word medicari, "to medicate, heal, or cure."
Vocabulary lists containing medicate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Adrian Aceves, a physician living in downtown Washington, said he'd be staying in with his five-year-old mutt Rosy, "trying to distract her with treats and toys, and I will medicate her."
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Scott-Wright suggested placing him to sleep on his front, says Emily, and that she should medicate her son for reflux - despite Scott-Wright not seeing the baby during the consultation.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Unfortunately, alpha-synuclein has proven an especially challenging protein to medicate due to its unruly, disorganized form and lack of clear druggable structures, Disney added.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 9, 2024
But even after getting a diagnosis, Hutchings says the response was to "medicate someone, put them in the corner, and hope they get 'better.'"
From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2023
“I’m angry! Why can’t you let me be angry? Why do you have to medicate away everything I feel?”
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
Distracted by the recent death of his wife — whose loss he medicates by reading his sappy scribblings aloud to a rapt writing group — Sanders seems drained and becalmed.
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2023
But he’s not thriving: an unemployed, heavily medicated burden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
Products passing through the giant site range from insulin capsules and lifestyle drugs to medicated sunblock and drums of sulphuric acid.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
The medicated wipes, cream and spray have swirling, ’70s-style graphics and a retro color palette of orange, mustard yellow and turquoise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
She had been on anti-depressants but has come off them and is "correctly medicated" for her diagnoses.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2025
“You’ll put us under a spell? Do you have some magical words, some curse you plan to use on us now that we won’t eat your medicated sweet bread?”
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Earlier this year, England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Sir Chris Whitty said it would be a "societal failure" if medicating people for life was our only answer to obesity.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
There was a stigma associated with ADHD—such as that students who had it weren’t very bright—and they didn’t like the idea of medicating their children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
This stands in stark contrast with medicating symptoms of mood disorders or using behavioral tools to change thinking and behaviors.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2022
When it comes to taking on an actual diagnosis or making any major life changes — such as medicating — consult a mental health professional.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2022
In medicating a soap the material used for this purpose is usually added at the mill.
From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by E. G. Thomssen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
