remedy
Americannoun
-
remedies
plural
-
something that cures or relieves a disease or bodily disorder; a healing medicine, application, or treatment.
- Synonyms:
- medication, medicament, specific, restorative, cure
-
something that corrects or removes an evil of any kind.
- Synonyms:
- antidote, corrective
-
Law. legal redress; the legal means of enforcing a right or redressing a wrong.
-
Coining. a certain allowance at the mint for deviation from the standard weight and fineness of coins; tolerance.
verb (used with object)
-
remedies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
remedied,
past participle, past
-
remedying
present participle
noun
-
any drug or agent that cures a disease or controls its symptoms
-
anything that serves to put a fault to rights, cure defects, improve conditions, etc
a remedy for industrial disputes
-
the legally permitted variation from the standard weight or quality of coins; tolerance
verb
-
to relieve or cure (a disease, illness, etc) by or as if by a remedy
-
to put to rights (a fault, error, etc); correct
Synonym Usage
See cure.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
remedysimple
-
remediessimple
-
have remediedperfect
-
has remediedperfect
-
am remedyingprogressive
-
are remedyingprogressive
-
is remedyingprogressive
-
have been remedyingperfect progressive
-
has been remedyingperfect progressive
Past
-
remediedsimple
-
had remediedperfect
-
was remedyingprogressive
-
were remedyingprogressive
-
had been remedyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of remedy
First recorded in 1175–1225; (for the noun) Middle English remedie, from Anglo-French, from Latin remedium, from re- re- + med(ērī) “to heal” ( cf. medical) + -ium -ium; (for the verb) late Middle English remedien, from Middle French remedier, from Latin remediāre, derivative of remedium
Explanation
A remedy is something that relieves or cures a problem or illness. Aloe vera is a common remedy for sunburn. If you're having trouble sleeping, the first remedy you might try is a hot bath and a cup of chamomile tea. If that doesn't help, you may resort to something stronger, like a sedative. If a streetlight shining in your window is part of the problem, you can remedy the situation with some room-darkening shades. But if it's your upstairs neighbors and their all-night partying that's keeping you awake, you may have to consider a legal remedy.
Vocabulary lists containing remedy
Vocabulary from Beyoncé's "Lemonade"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act IV
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Hunger Games" Vocabulary from Chapter 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Asked whether higher rates were the remedy if inflation didn’t come down, Warsh said they could be part of, but maybe not primarily, the solution.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
In the New Mexico case, the First Judicial Court in Santa Fe determined that Meta’s conduct created a “public nuisance” and ordered the company to create a fund to remedy harms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
He was also wrong to present vitamin C as a near-universal remedy for many illnesses.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
“We’re seeing some very significant constraints currently with limited flexibility in the supply chain to remedy it,” CEO Tim Cook said on the earnings call.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
I saw that I had offended him, and I tried to remedy the hurt, but only stumbled further.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
So do the protections and legal remedies it provides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Vitamin C was filed away with other “alternative” remedies, and Pauling’s late-career crusade was widely seen as a sad mistake.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
A further trial is also scheduled for October this year to determine the consequences of any actionable breaches and any issues relating to damages or other remedies.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
He cast no doubt upon race-conscious remedies that the government might take to ensure that “all citizens are equal before the law.”
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
And JonPaul probably has lots of remedies for sore muscles and will tell me the fastest way to stop puking after I run.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
The resulting racing inefficiencies can be remedied with market designs that slow the pace of trading, but more accurate clocks will not solve the underlying problem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
He said on Friday that the "algae is 75% gone, and the condition will soon be completely remedied".
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Every single person in that room revealed that they had dense breasts, which we thought could be remedied somehow through self-massage.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026
"But we believe that we have remedied that," he added.
From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025
If only a network of canals existed, the lack would be remedied, the habitability of Mars would become plausible.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The iOS 26.4 update improved keyboard accuracy by remedying the ghost-letter problem, but autocorrect issues persist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
“This has been one of the holy grails of remedying the Korean discount, and there’s at least a 50-50 chance of it passing this year,” he says.
From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025
The truce extension will give more time for negotiations about "remedying trade imbalances" and "unfair trade practices", the White House said.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
Over the summer, California’s Reparations Task Force called for repealing such laws in its recommendations for remedying the legacies of slavery and more modern government-sanctioned policies that discriminated against Black residents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
Fizz is prone to remedying me and would invariably seek the answer to my “problem.”
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
