FROM THE ARCHIVETuesday, November 10, 2026
anodyne
AN-uh-dyne/ˈæn.ə.daɪn//adjective
01 / MEANING
Soothing or pain-relieving; also, blandly agreeable and unlikely to cause offense.
In a sentence.
- 01
Her anodyne remarks helped calm the tense room.
- 02
The committee issued an anodyne statement that offended no one.
Where it came from.
Anodyne came through Middle English and Medieval Latin from Greek anōdunos, ‘free from pain,’ formed from an-, ‘without,’ and odunē, ‘pain.’
Explore the sourceWhy it’s interesting.
A word for relief from pain also describes language polished so smooth that it provokes no reaction.