minor tranquilizer
- noun
- /ˈmaɪnər ˈtræŋkwəˌlaɪzər/
- Archaic
:
tranquilizante menor
- Many patients find that minor tranquilizers help them cope with anxiety during stressful situations.
Examples
-
Fewer than 15% of the patients were misusing medications (analgesics and minor tranquilizers, mostly benzodiazepines) and volatile substances.
Academic text (2007) -
Also, I think the minor tranquilizers are given out too frequently and have hidden disadvantages.
Blog text (6) -
More than one quarter of the respondents (27.6%) were using minor tranquilizers such as Valium or Xanax, and 15.2% used barbiturates.
Academic text (2004) -
Doctors often prescribe minor tranquilizers to treat patients who experience mild anxiety or nervousness.
-
She took a minor tranquilizer before the big presentation to calm her nerves.
Synonyms
52
6.1
A medicine that makes a person calmer and reduces worry or tension without making them sleepy
1
9.9
A medicine that makes you feel less anxious and tense
A mild medicine that reduces anxiety and tension
A drug that reduces worry and calms tension
A drug that reduces anxiety and makes you feel calmer
A drug that makes a person or animal calm and sleepy
Antonyms
- Archaic
Strong medicine that calms people with serious mental illness like schizophrenia
How Sedating
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'minor' (= lesser, slight) modifies 'tranquilizer' (a calming medication), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a less potent/low-strength calming drug used to relieve anxiety without major sedation. This degree-modifying pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, making the expression transparent to learners.
Etymology
Minor tranquilizer comes from tranquilizer (something that makes you 'calm') and minor (meaning 'not very strong'). So the name gives a simple picture: a medicine that calms anxiety but is not very strong and does not 'make you very sleepy'.