WordValetherapeutic
relating to the healing or treatment of disease
In more detail
1. (adjective) helping to treat or cure a disease or improve health
2. (adjective) making you feel calm, relaxed, or emotionally better
Examples
- 1. The therapeutic benefits of exercise help reduce pain and improve mobility.
- 2. Many people find gardening therapeutic after a stressful day at work.
How to use therapeutic
Therapeutic is used in medical and psychological contexts to describe treatments or interventions that promote healing or mental wellbeing. It can refer to actual medical treatments (therapeutic drugs) or less formally to any activity that promotes relaxation and emotional comfort (yoga is therapeutic). The term is more clinical and evidence-based than casual descriptions like relaxing or soothing.
Common phrases
- therapeutic value
- therapeutic approach
- therapeutic benefit
- therapeutic use
- therapeutic effect
- prove therapeutic
Synonyms
healing · curative · restorative · remedial · beneficial
Opposites
harmful · damaging · detrimental
Word family
therapist · therapy · therapeutically · therapeutics
A common mistake
Learners sometimes overuse therapeutic to mean simply 'pleasant' or 'enjoyable' (e.g., 'chocolate is therapeutic'), when the term more precisely refers to activities or treatments with a genuine health or psychological benefit.
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