noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/pləˈsiː.bəʊ/
England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, General-American:/pləˈsi.boʊ/
Australian:/pləˈsiː.bəʉ/
New-Zealand:/pləˈsiː.bɐʉ/
rhymes with -iːbəʊ
CMU ARPABET:P L AH0 S IY1 B OW0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The vespers sung in the office for the dead.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
(Roman Catholic Church) vespers of the office for the dead
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: vesper
4
noun
Meaning 4
an innocuous or inert medication; given as a pacifier or to the control group in experiments on the efficacy of a drug
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: medicine, medication, medicament, medicinal drug
Narrower terms: active placebo
History
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English placebo, borrowed from Latin placēbō (“I will please”), the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō (“to please”).
Across languages
Translations
33 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
плацебо
(placebo)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Catalan:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Chinese Mandarin:
安慰劑 /安慰剂
(ānwèijì)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Czech:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Danish:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Dutch:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Erzya:
чавоменге
(čavomenge)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Esperanto:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Finnish:
lumelääke
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Finnish:
plasebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
French:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Galician:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
German:
Placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
German:
Plazebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Greek:
πλασέμπο
(plasémpo)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Hebrew:
פְּלָצֶבּוֹ
(platzébo)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Hindi:
कूटभेषज
(kūṭbheṣaj)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Icelandic:
lyfleysa
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Icelandic:
þóknunarhrifslyf
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Irish:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Italian:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Japanese:
偽薬
(giyaku)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Japanese:
プラセボ
(purasebo)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Macedonian:
плацебо
(placebo)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Norwegian:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Polish:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Portuguese:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Russian:
плаце́бо
(placébo)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Spanish:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Swedish:
placebo
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Tamil:
மருந்துப்போலி
(maruntuppōli)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Thai:
ยาหลอก
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
Ukrainian:
плацебо́
(placebó)
— a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment
