Meaning & use
Placidyl
Last updated
UK/ˈplæsɪdɪl/
US/ˈplæsɪdɪl/
Meaning
proper nounpropertrademarkmedical
A brand name for ethchlorvynol, a sedative once given for sleeplessness, now no longer sold.
Grammar: Capitalized because it is a brand name and usually has no article.
Patterns
- prescribed Placidyl
- take Placidyl
Older medical books mention Placidyl as a sleeping medicine.
Doctors stopped prescribing Placidyl because of its risks.
Her grandmother was once given Placidyl for insomnia.
Common combinations
- prescribed Placidyl
- He was prescribed Placidyl in the 1970s.
- Placidyl overdose
- Reports of Placidyl overdose led to tighter controls.
- Placidyl dependence
- Doctors warned about Placidyl dependence.
- discontinued Placidyl
- Manufacturers discontinued Placidyl decades ago.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sedative
- Sedative is the general class of calming drug, while Placidyl is one specific brand.
- sleeping pill
- Sleeping pill is an everyday phrase, unlike the specialist brand name Placidyl.
- hypnotic
- Hypnotic is the medical term for a drug causing sleep and is a category rather than a single brand.
Opposites
Word family
- ethchlorvynol noun
- the chemical name of the drug
- sedative noun
- a drug that calms or induces sleep
Commonly confused: Placidyl or placid?
Placidyl vs placid
Placid means calm and peaceful and suggests the intended effect, but it is a normal adjective, not a drug.
Practice
What was Placidyl?
Choose one answer.
Placidyl was a sedative for insomnia, now discontinued. The other options are unrelated products.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Placidyl”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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