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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
Explanation
An antidote is a remedy that relieves. So if you get headaches from long bus rides, it's best to travel equipped with the key pain alleviating antidotes: Tylenol, lots of water and soothing music. A noun that comes all the way to us from the ancient Greek word antidoton, which means “given as a remedy,” an antidote counteracts or relieves the negative effects of something. You can find antidotes to poison, anxiety, sadness or even a bad day. People tend to think of medicinal cures when they hear the word antidote, but things like meditation, sleep, green tea, exercise or a good hug can all have positive, antidotal affects.
Vocabulary lists containing antidote
Power Prefix: Anti
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Four Power Prefixes: anti-, con-, inter-, and uni-.
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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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.
All too familiar with the psychic weight of secrets, the Antidote remarks that “Memories are living things. When you house as many as I did, your bones begin to creak.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2025
Antidote or not, Dr. Delaney said, “early knowledge that someone has ingested one of these is absolutely essential.”
From New York Times • May 16, 2023
During their discussion, Mustafa focused on Peterson’s book “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” and how he has used it to improve himself.
From Washington Post • Jan. 27, 2022
It’s called “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos,” and it has become an international blockbuster.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 26, 2018
He is the only Antidote to our sin, ruin, and disease; and He is freely set forth in the Gospel as the gracious, willing, almighty, and everlasting Saviour of the lost and undone.
From The Little Gleaner, Vol. X. A Monthly Magazine for the Young by Various
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.
