nostrum

[nos-truhm]

noun

1. a medicine sold with false or exaggerated claims and with no demonstrable value; quack medicine.

2. a pet scheme or remedy, especially for social or political ills; panacea.

   The party was pushing the nostrum of corporate tax reduction, as if that would undo decades of industrial job loss.

3. a medicine made by the person who recommends it.

4. a patent medicine.

nostrum

/ ˈnɒstrəm /

noun

1. a patent or quack medicine

2. a favourite remedy, as for political or social problems

Word History and Origins

Origin of nostrum¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin: literally, “our, ours” (neuter singular of noster ), with a noun such as remedium “remedy, cure” being understood; referring to the seller's calling the drug “our” drug

Word History and Origins

Origin of nostrum¹

C17: from Latin: our own (make), from noster our

Example Sentences

One of the abundance nostrums, making things cheaper through deregulation, is laughable.

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Kennedy has promoted almost useless nostrums against measles, such as Vitamin A, while describing vaccination as a personal choice.

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He has taken Emerson’s nostrum about consistency being “the hobgoblin of little minds” to its acid-flashback extreme: no consistency, no mind to speak of, but one hell of a hobgoblin.

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“The FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” he wrote, decrying the agency’s “aggressive suppression” of such worthless anti-COVID nostrums as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

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When asked for specifics about what she would do if elected, she often offers word salads and nostrums about bringing people together.

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