anodyne
1
7.9
- adjective
- /ˈænəˌdaɪn/
:
inofensivo
Now it is a bit anodyne and it's a bit, you know, cliched.
- Now it is a bit anodyne and it's a bit, you know, cliched.
- And I was actually watching back the clip for the first time the other day and it's so anodyne.
- And the students started protesting him because he'd written some very anodyne papers about how we should be open to studying this topic.
Examples
-
The story itself is anodyne.
Blog text (11) -
Who would disagree with such an anodyne claim?
Academic text (2005) -
Now it is a bit anodyne and it's a bit, you know, cliched.
-
When he was pressed on it, he made a fairly anodyne statement about the need to encourage negotiations to help moderate Arab regimes.
Blog text (25) -
Eventually, the Copenhagen Conference issued an anodyne statement expressing a mild preference for a maximum temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius.
Blog text (15) -
The speaker gave an anodyne response that avoided any controversial topics.
-
Her anodyne remarks helped calm the tense atmosphere during the meeting.
-
They chose to write an anodyne article that would not upset any readers.
Synonyms
81
2.9
That makes pain or worry feel less strong
46
3.9
Calm and gentle in mood and behavior
1
7.8
Making the skin soft and less irritated
Antonyms
How Soothing
Surface Forms
Morphology
anodyne = an + odyne
The calming/inoffensive sense is a figurative extension of the pain-relieving sense, so there is a semantic connection but the derivation is not directly obvious to learners.
Etymology
Anodyne comes from Greek parts an- 'not' and odyne 'pain', and a helpful way to remember the figurative sense is to think 'no pain' as 'gentle'; an anodyne remark or action is soothing and unlikely to upset people.