therapeutic
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to the treatment of disease; curative
-
serving or performed to maintain health
therapeutic abortion
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of therapeutic
1535–45; < New Latin therapeuticus < Greek therapeutikós, equivalent to therapeú ( ein ) to attend, treat medically (akin to therápōn attendant) + -tikos -tic
Explanation
Whether you’re talking about a therapeutic drug or a therapeutic exercise plan, something that is therapeutic helps to heal or to restore health. The adjective therapeutic can be traced all the way back to the Greek word therapeutikos (from therapeuein, meaning “to attend” or “to treat”). Although the word relates to healing or soothing, therapeutic isn’t reserved only for drugs or medical treatments. You’ve probably heard particular activities referred to as therapeutic, which just means that doing that activity makes you feel rejuvenated. You might consider shopping for shoes, for example, to be a therapeutic activity — at least until the credit card bill arrives.
Vocabulary lists containing therapeutic
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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.
In risky therapeutic areas, the cleanest part of the trade is often the run-up to approval, when the main question is simply whether the FDA will say yes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
"Across several kinds of brain cells, this paired view revealed a consistent signature of 3D genome reorganization in Alzheimer's disease and helped us prioritize regulatory regions for future mechanistic and therapeutic investigation."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
By identifying IL1RAP as a possible therapeutic vulnerability and connecting its activity with treatment response, the researchers have created a foundation for testing the strategy in patients.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026
Dysport is a muscle relaxant that Ipsen markets for therapeutic indications such as a neck ailment called cervical dystonia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The media tend to present each new procedure as though it represented a breakthrough and therapeutic triumph, instead of the makeshift that it really is.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
