noun
placebo
pluh-SEE-boh
noun
1
A harmless substance given as if it were medicine, with no real active ingredient.
"Half the trial participants received the real drug and half got a placebo."
"Her headache improved even though she'd only taken a placebo."
How to Use Placebo
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA fake treatment used in medical trials to compare against the real drug, or more generally, something that works only because people believe it will.
Common pairings
placebo effect
placebo-controlled trial
sugar pill placebo
Word Forms
placebos plural, placeboes plural
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Half the trial participants received the real drug and half got a _____.
Etymology
From Latin placebo, "I will please," originally a line from a church prayer, later adopted into medicine for a "pleasing" but medically inactive treatment.