Adaptogen

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any natural herbal substance, such as ginseng, that is purported to assist the body to adapt to stress, and to exert a normalizing effect upon body functions.

    "As members sipped from their glasses, Joey Rubin, a leader of the group’s Los Angeles chapter, explained that the drink contained adaptogens, herbs said to increase focus and stimulate creativity."

Example

More examples

"As members sipped from their glasses, Joey Rubin, a leader of the group’s Los Angeles chapter, explained that the drink contained adaptogens, herbs said to increase focus and stimulate creativity."

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian адаптоген (adaptogen), coined by Soviet toxicologist and pharmacologist Nikolai Lazarev, equivalent to adapt + -o- + -gen.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.