nostrum

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He has taken Emerson’s nostrum about consistency being “the hobgoblin of little minds” to its acid-flashback extreme: no consistency, no mind to speak of, but one hell of a hobgoblin.

From Salon • Feb. 9, 2025

President Joko Widodo envisions the construction of a new capital as a nostrum for the problems plaguing Jakarta, reducing its population while allowing the country to start fresh with a “sustainable city.”

From Seattle Times • Mar. 8, 2023

Musk himself has been a purveyor of damaging misinformation and disinformation on Twitter — promoting the useless anti-COVID nostrum hydroxychloroquine as well as economically dubious cryptocurrencies, for example.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2022

“Boys will be boys” is a nostrum with the designated purpose of chalking male malfeasance up to innocent high spirits.

From Slate • Sep. 18, 2018

Superstition was a widely available nostrum for people powerless against the miseries of famine, pestilence and deadly doctrinal conflict.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan