Gloss · Words · Panacea

panacea

ˌpænəˈsiːənoun

What does panacea mean?

A cure for everything; usually said of something that is not.

Panacea, six ways

PlainA cure for everything; usually said of something that is not.
ADHDFix-all. Supposedly. Usually isn’t.
Gen ZThe thing people say will fix everything. It won’t.
MetaphorOne key sold as opening every lock.
FormalA solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases.
Like I’m 5A thing people think will fix every problem at once. That’s a panacea.

How to pronounce panacea

pan-uh-SEE-uh/ˌpænəˈsiːə/

Panacea in a sentence

Technology is not a panacea for loneliness.
Coffee isn’t a panacea, but it helps.
No single policy is a panacea for poverty.

Synonyms for panacea

cure-allPlainer; close.
remedyA cure for one thing.
silver bulletCasual; a simple fix.

Where panacea comes from

Greek. Panakeia, a cure-all, from pan, all, and akos, remedy. Panakeia was a goddess of healing.

Good to know

Mostly used in the negative: it is not a panacea. “A panacea for everything” says it twice, since the word already means a cure for all.

Panacea meaning, on a Gloss card: A cure for everything; usually said of something that is not.

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In: Words for ideas · Words with a story · Latin and Greek roots