English Reference

Word

reliever

Phoneticsre·liev·er

US/ɹiˈɫivɝ/

UK/ɹɪlˈiːvɐ/

Definition

n. something that helps you feel better by taking away pain or stress. You might use this word for a medicine or even a person who helps you relax.

n. a substance, person, or device that mitigates pain, discomfort, or psychological stress. Often used in medical contexts to describe analgesics or in sports to describe a substitute player.

Examples

“I took a pain reliever for my headache.”

“The doctor recommended an over-the-counter pain reliever to help manage the swelling in her ankle.”

“While pharmacological relievers are effective for acute symptoms, chronic pain management often requires a multidisciplinary approach involving physical therapy and psychological support.”

Examples

simple

“I took a pain reliever for my headache.”

contextual

“The doctor recommended an over-the-counter pain reliever to help manage the swelling in her ankle.”

complex

“While pharmacological relievers are effective for acute symptoms, chronic pain management often requires a multidisciplinary approach involving physical therapy and psychological support.”

Usage

Commonly appears in compound nouns such as 'pain reliever' or 'stress reliever'.

Etymology

From relieve + -er.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Word family

relieveVerbrelieverNoun

Domain

Medicine

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/reliever

English Reference