Word.ws English Dictionary

placebology

placebology noun: the study of placebos and placebo effects, especially of their applications in medicine and science.

Noun

placebology (uncountable)

  1. The study of placebos and placebo effects, especially of their applications in medicine and science.
    • So Kaptchuk had what may sound like the craziest idea in all of crazy placebology. What would happen if we gave patients a placebo—and told them it was a placebo?2023 July 21, What if Placebos ARE the Medicine? (Unsung Science), season 2, episode 15, David Pogue (actor), CBS News

Origin of placebology

By surface analysis, placebo + -ology.

Questions about placebology

What does placebology mean?
Placebology means the study of placebos and placebo effects, especially of their applications in medicine and science.
What part of speech is placebology?
Placebology is a noun.

Words near placebology in the dictionary

  1. placebo effects
  2. placebo-controlled
  3. placeboes
  4. placebogenic
  5. placebolike
  6. placebology
  7. placebome
  8. placebomes
  9. placebos
  10. placed
  11. placed on a pedestal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: placebology (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “placebology.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/placebology. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.