panacea
noun
pan·a·cea
ˌpa-nə-ˈsē-ə 
: a remedy for all ills or difficulties : cure-all
The law will improve the lives of local farmers, but it is no panacea.
Did you know?
English speakers took panacea from Latin, but as is the case with many Latin borrowings, the word ultimately traces its roots to Greek: panakēs, meaning "all-healing,” comes from pan-, meaning "all," and akos, meaning “remedy.” The Latin designation Panacea or Panaces was in past centuries awarded to various plants, among them the herb today known as Prunella vulgaris, whose common name is self-heal. In current use, panacea is most often used to decry a remedy that falls far short of what some claim it can do.
Examples of panacea in a Sentence
The law will improve the lives of local farmers, but it is no panacea.
a woman who seems to believe that chicken soup is a panacea for nearly everything
Recent Examples on the Web
No, this is not a panacea for all our social and political ills.
—
Jon Lapook, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2024
Hernandez said the wall should be seen as just one part of the border security effort that Harris would pursue, not as a panacea.
—Laura Strickler, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2024
In politics as in much of life, panaceas don’t exist.
—Michael S. Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Oct. 2024
When the first draft of the human genome was unveiled, it was billed as a panacea, hiding within its code secrets that would help each and every one of us unlock a personalized health plan.
—Kristen V. Brown, The Atlantic, 27 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for panacea 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jon Lapook, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2024
Hernandez said the wall should be seen as just one part of the border security effort that Harris would pursue, not as a panacea.
—Laura Strickler, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2024
In politics as in much of life, panaceas don’t exist.
—Michael S. Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Oct. 2024
When the first draft of the human genome was unveiled, it was billed as a panacea, hiding within its code secrets that would help each and every one of us unlock a personalized health plan.
—Kristen V. Brown, The Atlantic, 27 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for panacea
Articles Related to panacea
Dictionary Entries Near panacea
Cite this Entry
“Panacea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panacea. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
panacea
noun
pan·a·cea
ˌpan-ə-ˈsē-ə
: a remedy for all ills or difficulties : cure-all
Medical Definition
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share