emetic
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of emetic
1650–60; < Latin emeticus < Greek emetikós, equivalent to émet ( os ) vomiting + -ikos -ic
Explanation
An emetic is a medicine or potion that makes you vomit, which you might be given if you've taken poison or some other harmful substance. You can also use the word emetic in a more figurative sense to describe anything that makes you feel sick — the motion of a boat rocked by a storm could easily be an emetic, and the tuna sandwich the guy sitting next to you on the bus has just unwrapped might also be an emetic for everyone sitting nearby.
Vocabulary lists containing emetic
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Kindred
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The Suffix -ic, Part 4
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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.
It’s as if the very name of the man has on her an emetic effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
The word itself – meaningless, infantile, a bit 80s and decidedly naff – is emetic enough without the inefficiency, the pointlessness, the utterly wasted time and opportunity of a procedure that fixes precisely nothing.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 13, 2020
Nothing here feels cute, quaint or kitsch, though whimsy can fall that way, into a slough of soggy sentimentality sometimes laced with an emetic of twee.
From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2018
In those days, the only available cure was tartar emetic, a compound of antimony that was administered as 12–16 injections given once a week.
From Nature ● Nov. 7, 2017
A doctor gave him a strong drug called an emetic, which made him vomit up the ball.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
