nostrum
Americannoun
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a medicine sold with false or exaggerated claims and with no demonstrable value; quack medicine.
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a pet scheme or remedy, especially for social or political ills; panacea.
The party was pushing the nostrum of corporate tax reduction, as if that would undo decades of industrial job loss.
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a medicine made by the person who recommends it.
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a patent medicine.
noun
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a patent or quack medicine
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a favourite remedy, as for political or social problems
Etymology
Origin of nostrum
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin: literally, “our, ours” (neuter singular of noster ), with a noun such as remedium “remedy, cure” being understood; referring to the seller's calling the drug “our” drug
Explanation
Though you try many medicines that claim to cure your cold, none of them work. They turn out to be nostrums, or ineffective drugs. Nostrum refers to a cure-all, a drug, or a medicine that is ineffectual. Before drugs were regulated by the government, there were many nostrums sold to the public. “Snake oil” is one of the most well-known. Said to cure any ailment from achy joints to hair loss, snake oil concoctions could contain a number of ingredients — including camphor, red pepper, and turpentine.
Vocabulary lists containing nostrum
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Quiz yourself on these words spoken by the man at the center of the "Laurel" / "Yanny" craze!
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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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.
Pilots for Spanish airline Iberia Regional Air Nostrum have "overwhelmingly" voted to go on an indefinite strike amid a wage dispute with the company, Spain's largest airline pilots' union said on Wednesday.
From Reuters • Feb. 2, 2023
So far three regional airlines have signed letters of intent to buy its planes: Icelandair; Anchorage-based Ravn; and Valencia, Spain-based Air Nostrum.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 3, 2021
The Italian government, under the center-left Democratic Party, responded with an expensive search-and-rescue program called Mare Nostrum, credited with saving more than 150,000 lives during its brief duration.
From New York Times • Aug. 16, 2019
Nostrum now is relaunching its version amid limited competition.
From Washington Times • Sep. 24, 2018
He dug out a small satchel labeled The Nostrum Nook's Sleepy Time Powder and stepped closer to them.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
