active placebo

1. 1.

   a placebo used in experimental tests of a drug that has noticeable side effects

   “an active placebo mimics the side effects of the experimental drug”

   Broaderplacebo

Questions about active placebo

What does active placebo mean?

active placebo means "a placebo used in experimental tests of a drug that has noticeable side effects".

Is active placebo a common word?

active placebo is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.