Meanings
plural febrifuges
- medicineSynonym of antipyretic (“a fever-reducing medication”).
...therein it differs not from the mode of operation, which we observe in the famous peruvian febrifuge.
1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, J. Roberts, page 192 more examples
Ah, my boy, you forget the card index! Librarians invented that soothing device for the febrifuge of their souls...
1919, Christopher Morley, “The Haunted Bookshop”, in The Haunted Bookshop, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 20And, by goodness, the door was ajar into the hall, for Constance had slipped out to the nearest pharmacy in search of a febrifuge for her fever-bound lover.
1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 1131Synonyms: alexipyretic, antifebrile, antipyretic
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of antipyretic (“a fever-reducing medication”).
More synonyms by meaning
nounany medicine that lowers body temperature to prevent or alleviate fever
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfebrifugus
- Frenchfébrifuge
- Englishfebrifuge
From French fébrifuge, from Latin febrifugus. Doublet of feverfew. Source of -fuge.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
febrifuge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/febrifuge
“febrifuge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/febrifuge. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “febrifuge,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/febrifuge.
Source: febrifuge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.