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
How does antidote compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
With a short season, smaller scope and much lighter tone, this could be the welcome antidote to the humorless, plodding “HotD,” and get Westeros fans excited again.
From MarketWatch
Asked why her songs had resonated with so many people, Dean said she'd tried to make her album an antidote to troubling times.
From BBC
"We live in a bleak time, especially for young people, and the film is an attempt at an antidote to that and to continue to dream big."
From Barron's
Retailers are counting on personal, premium experiences like Chiaberta’s tour as an antidote for physical stores sickened by the ascendance of shopping on the internet.
For Zeyneb, the best antidote to social isolation was adopting a black cat, Olive.
From BBC
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.
