adjuvant

1 of 2

adjective

ad·ju·vant ˈa-jə-vənt

: serving to aid or contribute : auxiliary

: enhancing the effectiveness of medical treatment

Retinoids also seem to be useful as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of psoriasis, and they may induce regression of premalignant lesions, including actinic keratoses.—

Robert S. Stern

specifically : of, relating to, or being treatment administered following primary cancer treatment to enhance the outcome of primary treatment

adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery

… women who choose this extensive surgery live no longer than women who choose lumpectomy (with or without adjuvant radiation) and frequent check-ups —

Susan S. Weed

compare neoadjuvant

adjuvant

2 of 2

noun

: one that helps or facilitates: such as

: an ingredient (as in a prescription or a solution) that modifies the action of the principal ingredient

: something (such as a drug or method) that enhances the effectiveness of medical treatment

used chemotherapy as an adjuvant to surgery

: a substance (such as one added to a vaccine) enhancing the immune response to an antigen

Did you know?

Things that are adjuvant rarely get top billing—they're the supporting players, not the stars. But that doesn't mean they're not important. An adjuvant medicine, for example, can have a powerful healing effect when teamed up with another medicine or curative treatment. Adjuvant descends from the Latin verb adjuvare ("to aid"), which also gave English the nouns coadjutor ("assistant") and aid. These days, adjuvant tends to turn up most often in medical contexts, but it can also be used in the general sense of "serving to aid." Likewise, the noun adjuvant can mean "a drug or method that enhances the effectiveness of medical treatment" or simply "one that helps or facilitates."

Examples of adjuvant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Adjective

Chemotherapy Chemotherapy is one of the most common forms of adjuvant therapy. —

Ruth Jessen Hickman, Health, 20 Sep. 2024 Some researchers highlight the adjuvant components of vaccines as a likely culprit. —

Markham Heid, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024

Noun

In the January preprint with Saunders’ lab, the team tested their RBD nanoparticle vaccine with three different kinds of adjuvants. —

Maggie Chen, WIRED, 26 July 2022 The vaccine targets the malaria antigen R21, and includes an adjuvant from Novavax, which helps to amplify the immune response generated by the shot. —

Alice Park, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for adjuvant

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Latin adjuvant-, adjuvans, present participle of adjuvāre "to help, aid, facilitate" — more at aid entry 1

Noun

borrowed from Medieval Latin adjuvant-, adjuvans, going back to Latin, present participle of adjuvāre "to help, aid, facilitate" — more at aid entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1574, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1583, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of adjuvant was in 1574

See more words from the same year

Podcast

Cite this Entry

Style

“Adjuvant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjuvant. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Medical Definition

adjuvant

1 of 2 adjective

ad·ju·vant ˈaj-ə-vənt

: serving to aid or contribute

: assisting in the prevention, amelioration, or cure of disease

adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery

adjuvant

2 of 2 noun

: one that helps or facilitates: as

: an ingredient (as in a prescription or solution) that facilitates or modifies the action of the principal ingredient

the beneficial activity of the spray is enhanced by adjuvants

: something (as a drug or method) that enhances the effectiveness of a medical treatment

used chemotherapy as an adjuvant to surgery

: a substance enhancing the immune response to an antigen

Last Updated: 24 Sep 2024 - Updated example sentences

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

paroxysm

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

adjuvant

adjective

noun

Did you know?

Examples of adjuvant in a Sentence

Word History

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near adjuvant

Cite this Entry

Medical Definition