Meaning & use
remedy
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Meanings
nouncountable
A treatment or medicine that relieves or cures an illness or ailment.
Grammar: Usually takes an or the: a remedy for headaches.
Patterns
- a remedy for something
My grandmother swore that honey and lemon was the best remedy for a sore throat.
The pharmacist recommended a herbal remedy for trouble sleeping.
There is still no known remedy for the common cold.
nouncountable
A way of solving a problem or putting something wrong right.
Grammar: Often followed by for or to: a remedy for traffic jams.
Patterns
- a remedy for something
- a remedy to something
Cutting the price was a quick remedy for slow sales.
The city proposed several remedies to the housing shortage.
Patience is the only remedy for this kind of delay.
nouncountablelegal
The legal means by which a court corrects a wrong, such as an order to pay damages.
Grammar: Often appears in legal phrases such as legal remedy.
Patterns
- a remedy for something
- seek a remedy
The tenant sought a legal remedy after the landlord kept her deposit.
Money damages are the usual remedy for a broken contract.
Customers who are cheated have a remedy through the small claims court.
verbtransitiveformal
To put right a problem, fault or bad situation.
Grammar: Takes an object: remedy the situation.
Patterns
- remedy something
The company promised to remedy the error within a week.
Extra training should remedy the gaps in the staff's knowledge.
It is hard to remedy such damage once trust has been lost.
Word forms
| plural | remedies |
|---|---|
| third person singular | remedies |
| past tense | remedied |
| past participle | remedied |
| -ing form | remedying |
Common combinations
- home remedy
- Ginger tea is a popular home remedy for nausea.
- seek a remedy
- The residents sought a remedy for the constant noise.
- the only remedy
- Time is the only remedy for grief.
- legal remedy
- A refund is the legal remedy when goods are faulty.
- remedy the situation
- The manager acted fast to remedy the situation.
- beyond remedy
- The damage to the old bridge was beyond remedy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cure
- Cure suggests the problem is fully removed, while a remedy may only ease it.
- treatment
- Treatment describes a course of care given by a professional, whereas remedy can be an informal home fix.
- solution
- Solution is the broader everyday word for answering any problem, and it is rarely used for illnesses.
- fix
- Fix is more casual and often suggests a quick or practical repair.
Opposites
Word family
- remedial adjective
- intended to correct a weakness, as in remedial classes
- remediable adjective
- able to be put right
- irremediable adjective
- impossible to put right
- remediation noun
- the process of correcting or cleaning up a problem
Commonly confused: remedy or remedial?
remedy vs remedial
Remedial is an adjective for something meant to fix a deficiency, such as remedial reading; remedy is the noun or verb for the fix itself.
Practice
The council set up a task force to ___ the flooding problem before the next rainy season.
Choose one answer.
Remedy as a verb means to put a problem right, which suits flooding. Remit sounds similar but means to send money or hand a matter on, so it does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “remedy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.