''analgesic'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''analgesic'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260130112253-00-⌔

analgesic - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

analgesic (plural analgesics)

• (pharmacology) Any medicine, such as aspirin, that reduces pain, especially without inducing a loss of other sensation. (Contrast anesthetic.)
  • ✤ Synonyms: painkiller; see also Thesaurus: analgesic
  • ✤ Hyponyms: see Thesaurus: analgesic
  • ✤ I am taking an analgesic. Is it safe to drink alcoholic beverages?¹
  • ✤ Incline makes Ionsys, a potential analgesic for adult inpatients requiring opioid pain treatment after surgery.²

Adjective

analgesic (comparative more analgesic, superlative most analgesic)

• (pharmacology) Of or relating to analgesia.
  • ✤ Synonyms: antipain, anodyne, pain-relieving, painkilling
  • (of medicine) Acting to relieve pain; being an analgesic.
  • (of a person, etc) Unable to feel pain.
    • ✤ With the exception of the foot and a small area over the malar bone, the entire left side of the body is analgesic and anaesthetic. This extends to the exact median line of the body, including the left half of the tongue, nose and chin, […]³
    • ✤ (I find that he is analgesic and anaesthetic; evidently he is in a state of passive somnambulism.)
      E. A. Did you feel anybody touch you?
      K. No. There’s no one near me. (He continues laughing and talking. […])⁴

Etymology

From analgesia (“absence of pain”) +‎ -ic, from New Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ἄλγησις (álgēsis, “sense of pain”), from ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”). Compare -algia.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˌæn.l̩ˈd͡ʒiː.zɪk/, /ˌæn.l̩ˈd͡ʒiː.sɪk/
• Rhymes: -iːzɪk
• Audio (Northern California): 🔊
• Audio (Australian): 🔊

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

1. 2004, Jocoby, David B. and Youngson, R. M., Encyclopedia of Family Health ‎${}^{[1]}$, Marshall Cavendish, page 137: ↩

2. 2010, Associated Press staff, Cadence signs option to buy Incline (original copy), Bloomberg Businessweek: ↩

3. 1896, Philadelphia General Hospital, Reports: Collected Reprints, page 138: ↩

4. 1924, Maurice Walter Keatinge, Suggestion in Education: ↩

Link to original

Secondary

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