Anodyne has meanings related to relieving pain or being soothing, as well as being bland or inoffensive. It can refer to a pain-relieving substance or something comforting.
Anodyne means relieving pain or soothing, or bland and unlikely to offend. It can also refer to something that soothes or comforts, or a pain-relieving medicine. The term comes from Greek roots meaning 'not pain.'
| Back | anodyne /AN-uh-dyn/ |
|---|---|
| Front | adjective 1. Relieving pain; soothing. 2. Bland or insipid: not likely to provoke or offend. noun 1. Something that soothes or comforts. 2. A medicine that relieves pain. [From Latin anodynos, from Greek anodynos, from a- (not) + odyne (pain). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ed- (to eat, to bite), which also gave us edible, comestible, obese, etch, fret, postprandial, esurient, and edacity. Earliest documented use: 1543.] “The interview, while engaging, was anodyne and strangely emollient, entirely without any edge.” - TV: Shelving the Misery Memoirs; Sunday Business Post (Cork, Ireland); May 18, 2014. |
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