Near-synonyms: paternoster, patent medicine, snake oil
Source: wiktionary
Nostrum
//ˈnɑ.stɹəm//
Synonyms for "nostrum" (16 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (4)
Noun(1 words)
Strong matches (4)
Related words (8)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
5 entriesSynonyms
1 entriescoordinate
3 entriesis a
1 entriesrelated to
11 entriessimilar
4 entriesTranslations
15 translations across 8 languages.
Dutch
1 entries- paardenremedie noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
Finnish
2 entries- patenttilääke noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
- patenttilääke noun (ineffective but favorite remedy for a problem, especially political)
French
3 entries- orviétan noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
- poudre de perlimpimpin noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
- remède de bonne femme noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
German
3 entries- Hausmittel noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
- altes Rezept noun (ineffective but favorite remedy for a problem, especially political)
- übliches Rezept noun (ineffective but favorite remedy for a problem, especially political)
Polish
2 entries- lekarstwo noun (ineffective but favorite remedy for a problem, especially political)
- panaceum noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
Portuguese
1 entries- panaceia noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
Russian
1 entries- панацея noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
Spanish
2 entries- droga de charlatán noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
- remedio milagroso noun (medicine or remedy which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects)
Sample sentences
12 total sentences available.
Nay, he would sometimes retire hither to take his beer, and it was not without difficulty that he was prevented from forcing Jones to take his beer too: for no quack ever held his nostrum to be a more general panacea than he did this; which, he said, had more virtue in it than was in all the physic in an apothecary's shop.
Source: wiktionary
In precisely the same way does a quack doctor prescribe his infallible nostrum to every patient, without taking into account differences of constitution, or [...]
Source: wiktionary
I stammered out some few halting words of congratulation and then sat downcast, with my head drooped, deaf to the babble of our new acquaintance. He was clearly a confirmed hypochondriac, and I was dreamily conscious that he was pouring forth interminable trains of symptoms, and imploring information as to the composition and action of innumerable quack nostrums, some of which he bore about in a leather case in his pocket.
Source: wiktionary
Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.