antidote
Americannoun
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a medicine or other remedy for counteracting the effects of poison, disease, etc.
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something that prevents or counteracts injurious or unwanted effects.
Good jobs are the best antidote to teenage crime.
verb (used with object)
noun
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med a drug or agent that counteracts or neutralizes the effects of a poison
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anything that counteracts or relieves a harmful or unwanted condition; remedy
Other Word Forms
- antidotal adjective
- antidotally adverb
- antidotical adjective
- antidotically adverb
Etymology
Origin of antidote
1400–50; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin antidotum < Greek antídoton something given against (i.e., for counteracting), equivalent to anti- anti- + dotón neuter of dotós given, verbid of didónai to give; akin to datum
Compare meaning
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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.
When presented without theatrical aspect but as a private process of the imagination, it becomes a lavishly lovable antidote to our too often accepting the world’s absurdity only as dooms-scrollable tragedy.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
The antidote to anxiety in the investment arena is developing a trading strategy that spells out how and when to make portfolio changes.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026
New outposts from American Express and American Airlines offer an antidote to packed airport clubs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
That is more than twice the share who identified price increases, marketing spending, or mergers and acquisitions to boost profitability as the antidote to uncertainty.
From Barron's • Feb. 3, 2026
Adara wound her arm around Luna’s shoulder, an antidote to sorrow.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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.
