panacea
noun
a remedy for all disease or ills.
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:
But as has become increasingly clear, private equity is not the panacea that many made it out to be.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Of course, passing American Dream and Promise Act is not a panacea.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
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
The long promised “breakthrough,” when or if it comes, cannot be expected to be a panacea for all types of malignancy.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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
"This includes funding the Panacea Museum, various educational programmes and its local grants programme, which since 2001 has provided almost £2m of funding to worthwhile community organisations in Bedford and its surrounding areas."
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
The manager of the R.V. park, though, said this month that Mr. Bearden is still there, still in Panacea, and like the rest of the Panhandle, still holding on.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 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 Samuel McChord Crothers
They are not panaceas, but they can help to set the tenor of debate.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 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
There are no such instant championship panaceas awaiting local squads this season.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 29, 2018
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.
