placebo
noun/pləˈsiːbəʊ/
/pləˈsiːbəʊ/
(plural placebos)
- a substance that has no physical effects, given to patients who do not need medicine but think that they do, or used when testing new drugs
- the placebo effect (= the effect of taking a placebo and feeling better)
- Half of the people taking part in the experiment were given a placebo.
- The placebo effect means that any treatment will improve patients merely because they want to recover.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryPlacebo is used before these nouns:- effect
Word Originlate 18th cent.: from Latin, literally ‘I shall be acceptable or pleasing’, from placere ‘to please’.Want to learn more?
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placebo