How to pronounce placebo
American English pronunciation
pluh-SEE-boh
- IPA
- /pləˈsiboʊ/
- Syllables
- pluh · SEE · boh (3 syllables, stress on the 2nd)
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What placebo means
A pretend pill with no real medicine in it
In a sentence: In the experiment, some people took a placebo instead of the real vitamin.
Where it comes from: It's a Latin word meaning "I will please." It has been used for pretend medicine since the 1700s.
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