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• panacea
  panacea

  noun

  a remedy for all disease or ills.
• Panacea
  Panacea

  noun

  an ancient Greek goddess of healing.

panacea

¹ American  

[pan-uh-see-uh] / ˌpæn əˈsi ə /

noun

• panaceas
  plural

1. a remedy for all disease or ills.

   Synonyms:

   cure-all, nostrum, elixir

2. an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties.

   His economic philosophy is a good one, but he tries to use it as a panacea.

   Synonyms:

   cure-all, nostrum, elixir

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Panacea ² American  

[pan-uh-see-uh] / ˌpæn əˈsi ə /

noun

1. an ancient Greek goddess of healing.

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panacea British  

/ ˌpænəˈsɪə /

noun

1. a remedy for all diseases or ills

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• panacean
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• panaceas
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

panacea Panacea panaceas

Of course, passing American Dream and Promise Act is not a panacea.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

American schools have wrestled with learning loss for the better part of a decade and no one has found a panacea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

When sliced, each irregular disk holds triterpenoids and p-couramic acid — panacea to reduce inflammation, with potential anti-cancer properties.

From Salon ● May 9, 2026

He slammed growing unilateralism and protectionism, which he said was "no panacea for resolving problems".

From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026

But there is frighteningly little evidence that his strategy was the crime panacea that he and the media deemed it.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Parker, an AmeriCorps member at the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea, Fla., near Tallahassee, spends his days studying shellfish.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2023

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

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

Panacea is something that cures all diseases, not an effective remedy for one disease.

From Word Study and English Grammar A Primer of Information about Words, Their Relations and Their Uses by Frederick W. (Frederick William) Hamilton

Spoiler: psychiatry and psychology are not the panaceas you might think.

From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2023

They aren't panaceas, however, and these drugs can come with side effects or just fail to work for some individuals.

From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2022

Digital platforms are not panaceas for food insecurity, notes Georgiana Nica-Avram at Nottingham University Business School.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2022

But the foster system and adoption are far from panaceas.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2022

Promotion of Social Reform.—As an institution hoary with age, the church is naturally conservative, and it has been slow to champion the various social reforms that have been proposed as panaceas.

From Society Its Origin and Development by Henry Kalloch Rowe

Related Words

• elixir