panacea
noun
a remedy for all disease or ills.
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panacea
1 American
[pan-uh-see-uh]
/ ˌpæn əˈsi ə /
Panacea
2
American
[pan-uh-see-uh]
/ ˌpæn əˈsi ə /
noun
panacea
British
/ ˌpænəˈsɪə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of panacea
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin, from Greek panákeia, equivalent to panake-, stem of panakḗs “all-healing” ( pan- “all” + akḗs “a cure”) + -ia noun suffix; pan-, -ia
Explanation
If someone offers you a pill that promises eternal life, don’t take the pill. It’s a panacea, a remedy that falsely claims to solve every problem ever. The Greek word pan means “all” (think of a panorama, a view where you can see everywhere). The Greek word for “cure” is akēs (which looks like the word “aches”). Those are the roots of panacea, a cure for all aches. But a panacea doesn’t really cure everything; it just acts like it can. Use the word to describe an unbelievable solution, like a new law that will make everyone rich, or a robot that does your homework for you.
Vocabulary lists containing panacea
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
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For National Pancake Day, Words With the Greek Roots "Pan-"
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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.
See Examples For:
FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, has repeatedly positioned the sport as a force for inclusion and social cohesion; soccer diplomacy is being elevated as the panacea for our current global disharmony.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
We took a lot of long walks to help deal with the stress of the not knowing, but the magic panacea for me came the day Steve’s Harley-Davidson arrived in one of the crates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
It’s a panacea, but they aren’t yet ready for use in production vehicles.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
"For now, creatine is best viewed as a supplement with significant potential, but not a panacea," Dr. Boroujerdi says.
From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026
Maybe this was the panacea we had been desperately searching for all these years.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Those in Bedford lived mostly in houses in and around Albany Road, with several still owned by the Panacea Charitable Trust today.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2019
Their home is Panacea, a 47-foot yacht-style boat.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 14, 2019
The Panacea Society began in 1918 after its leader, Octavia, was discovered by her first followers to be the Daughter of God.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 19, 2019
Mr. Bearden had not planned to stay in Panacea when he visited his aunt in 2014.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2018
"This regards the Possibility of a Panacea in general; as for Tar Water in particular, I do not say it is a Panacea, I only suspect it to be so."
From The Gentle Reader by Crothers, Samuel McChord
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for dubious and at times dangerous panaceas, including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2025
Digital platforms are not panaceas for food insecurity, notes Georgiana Nica-Avram at Nottingham University Business School.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2022
There are no such instant championship panaceas awaiting local squads this season.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 29, 2018
I wish I could offer an easy formula for countering this kind of deception, but I am not in the business of selling panaceas or telling fairy tales.
From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2017
One of the great panaceas of Lord Normanby's protégé is, that the land should be "set at full rents, on sensible leases"—which he proceeds to describe as leases for not less than twenty-one years.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 343, May 1844 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.
