therapeutic
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to the treatment of disease; curative
-
serving or performed to maintain health
therapeutic abortion
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of therapeutic
1535–45; < New Latin therapeuticus < Greek therapeutikós, equivalent to therapeú ( ein ) to attend, treat medically (akin to therápōn attendant) + -tikos -tic
Explanation
Whether you’re talking about a therapeutic drug or a therapeutic exercise plan, something that is therapeutic helps to heal or to restore health. The adjective therapeutic can be traced all the way back to the Greek word therapeutikos (from therapeuein, meaning “to attend” or “to treat”). Although the word relates to healing or soothing, therapeutic isn’t reserved only for drugs or medical treatments. You’ve probably heard particular activities referred to as therapeutic, which just means that doing that activity makes you feel rejuvenated. You might consider shopping for shoes, for example, to be a therapeutic activity — at least until the credit card bill arrives.
Vocabulary lists containing therapeutic
This Week in Words: March 3 – 9, 2018
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National Nurses Week: Common Medical Terms
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Vocabulary from Academy Award Nominees and Winners
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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.
Like phenols, indoles are being studied for their possible therapeutic value.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
Do you think that this introspective approach to your music has a therapeutic feeling to it?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
"Unlike gene re-expression strategies, SLC6A20 inhibition works by modulating endogenous signaling pathways and may offer a more practical therapeutic route," said Director Eunjoon Kim.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Kris is also a bit of a nervous wreck, though the character is scripted with an unfortunate mix of pedestrian mumbliness and tin-eared therapeutic explication that Ms. Einbinder struggles to transcend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic and spiritual values of retreat, not to es-cape but to find reality.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
