anti-inflammatory

anti-inflammatory — adjective

IPA/ˌænti ɪnˈflæmətri/
IPA/ˌænti ɪnˈflæmətɔːri/

1. relating to a substance that lessens swelling, redness, and pain in body tissue

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to a substance that lessens swelling, redness, and pain in body tissue when it is injured or infected

Example

The doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory cream for the rash on Mei-Lin's arm.

prescribed + anti-inflammatory cream for [body part]

After twisting his ankle at practice, Tomás applied an anti-inflammatory gel.

Common collocations
  • anti-inflammatory drug
  • anti-inflammatory medication
  • anti-inflammatory cream
  • anti-inflammatory injection
  • anti-inflammatory properties
Synonyms
  • anti-swelling

    more direct and literal, but less common in medical writing

  • pain-relieving

    broader — not all pain-relieving drugs reduce inflammation; paracetamol relieves pain but has almost no anti-inflammatory effect

Antonyms
  • inflammatory

    describes something that causes inflammation rather than reducing it

Grammar Patterns

anti-inflammatory + noun

Usage Note

Typically placed before nouns such as 'drug', 'medication', 'cream', 'ointment', or 'injection' to specify the form of treatment.

Common Mistakes

The doctor gave me an anti-inflammatory.
The doctor gave me an anti-inflammatory drug.
As an adjective, anti-inflammatory must modify a noun; without a noun it sounds like the noun sense, which can confuse the listener.

anti-inflammatory — noun

IPA/ˌæn.ti.ɪnˈflæm.ə.tər.i/
IPA/ˌæn.t̬i.ɪnˈflæm.ə.tɔːr.i/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe medications that relieve discomfort, but their scopes differ. Anti-inflammatory targets inflammation—swelling, redness, and heat—making it the precise choice when those symptoms are present. Painkiller is a broad, everyday term for any drug that stops pain, regardless of whether it reduces inflammation; paracetamol relieves pain but has almost no anti-inflammatory effect. Analgesic is a more formal synonym for painkiller, common in clinical documentation and prescription labels. NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) names a specific subclass of anti-inflammatories that includes ibuprofen and naproxen, excluding steroid-based ones like prednisone. For a headache from eye strain, a painkiller may suffice; for a swollen ankle after a fall, an anti-inflammatory is the better choice.

anti-inflammatory ↗painkiller ↗analgesic ↗NSAID

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • works as an anti-inflammatory
  • used as an anti-inflammatory

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

The word combines the Greek prefix 'anti-' (meaning 'against') with the adjective 'inflammatory', which comes from the Latin 'inflammare' (meaning 'to set on fire'). The term entered English medical usage in the 1800s, when doctors began classifying drugs by their effect on inflammation.