adjective · formal
palliative
/ˈpæliətɪv/PAL·li·a·tive
Band 7+speakingtask2
Relieving pain or symptoms without curing the underlying disease; easing suffering.
Examples
“She receives palliative care to manage pain in the final stages of her illness.”
“Palliative treatment focused on improving quality of life rather than cure.”
“Hospices specialise in palliative services for terminal patients.”
Band 8 sentence
“The hospice team provided palliative interventions to maintain the patient's dignity and comfort.”
Collocations
- palliative care
- palliative treatment
- palliative measures
Word family
palliate verbpalliation noun
Common mistakes
painkiller→palliative
treatment (meaning cure)→palliative
Say it for a higher band
5painkiller→6relief→7+palliative
Synonyms
comforting
symptom-relieving
Easily confused
curative
“The new drug showed curative potential in early trials.”
Related words
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In Health & Fitness
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