Meanings
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1
noun
a medicine of secret or doubtful composition that is promoted as an effective remedy
The vendor claimed that his nostrum could cure every common ailment.
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2
noun
a favored but simplistic or ineffective remedy for a social or political problem
The committee rejected austerity as a familiar nostrum rather than a workable policy.
Thesaurus
Etymology
A learned borrowing from Latin nostrum, "ours," the neuter form of noster. It was used elliptically for nostrum remedium, "our remedy," in sellers' claims for proprietary medicines; skepticism about such claims produced the modern disparaging senses.