Panacea
[pan-ə-SEE-ə]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Greek, 16th century
1.
A mythical remedy for all illness and disease
2.
A solution for all problems and difficulties
Examples of Panacea in a sentence
"Before modern medicine, people hoped to find a panacea to cure all illnesses."
"The neighbors have wishful thinking that the new traffic light on our street will be a panacea."
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About Panacea
The answer to all of life’s problems sure sounds nice, but we know that no such thing exists. "Panacea" is usually used critically against claims that a suggested solution will fix all of the current issues.
Did you Know?
Alchemists were early chemists who attempted to find a secret method to turn metal into gold. They were also on the hunt for the “elixir of life,” or a panacea that was rumored to solve all illnesses. Nowadays we might just call that diet and exercise.
