panacea

/ˌpænəˈsiːə/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌpænəˈsiːə/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌpa-nə-ˈsē-ə/ (ame, mw)

panacea — noun

  • panaceasingular
  • panaceasplural

1. an imagined single answer that, on its own, could supposedly solve every difficu

1.名詞C1
釋義

an imagined single answer that, on its own, could supposedly solve every difficulty a country, company, or community faces

例句

Adaeze warned that tax cuts are not a panacea for the city's housing shortage.

pattern: not a panacea for [problem]

The new education law was sold to voters as a panacea, but rural schools still lack teachers.

predicative use: sold/seen/treated as a panacea

同義詞
  • cure-all

    more informal; same meaning

  • silver bullet

    informal idiom; emphasises a quick decisive solution

  • magic bullet

    informal; often used in policy debate, similar to silver bullet

文法句型

a panacea for [problem]

用法筆記

Almost always appears in negation or with hedging verbs (is not / is no / cannot be / should not be seen as). Writers use it to push back against an oversimple proposal, so the surrounding sentence usually names the limitation.

常見錯誤

❌This medicine is a panacea for my back pain.
✅This medicine has eased my back pain.
💡sense 1 is about social or political problems, not one person's symptom.
❌There is panacea for poverty.
✅There is no panacea for poverty.
💡the noun is countable; you need an article (a / no / the).

2. a single medicine or treatment that, in old stories or hopeful claims, would hea

2.名詞C2
釋義

a single medicine or treatment that, in old stories or hopeful claims, would heal every kind of disease in the human body

例句

Medieval alchemists spent their lives searching for a panacea that could cure plague, fever, and old age.

historical context: alchemists and the search for a panacea

Trang's grandmother kept a bottle of herbal tonic she called her family panacea.

folk-medicine usage

同義詞
  • cure-all

    everyday word for the same idea

  • elixir

    literary; suggests a magical liquid medicine

文法句型

a panacea for [diseases]

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is about the physical body and disease (often historical or skeptical of folk remedies). When the topic is policy or organisations, use sense 1.

常見錯誤

❌Aspirin is a panacea for headaches.
✅Aspirin works well for most headaches.
💡a panacea must claim to cure many illnesses, not one.