anodyne

adj

1. Capable of soothing or eliminating pain.

   “Many a time has the vapor of ether been inhaled for the relief of oppressed lungs; many a time has the sought relief been thus obtained; and just so many times has the discovery of the wonderful anodyne properties of this gas, as affecting all bodily suffering, been brushed past and overlooked.”

   “The citrate is the most efficient as an alkali, but irritates some stomachs, the liquor the most anodyne, the acetate the most diuretic.”

2. (figuratively)Soothing or relaxing.

   “Classical music is rather anodyne.”

3. (broadly)Noncontentious, blandly agreeable, unlikely to cause offence or debate.

   “Near-synonyms: harmless, neutral”

   “It all became so routine, so anodyne, so dull.”

   “States typically like to stick to anodyne messages, like saving wildflowers or animals. But every so often a controversy crops up.”

   “The Vatican supports the vision of an independent Palestine living in peace alongside Israel, and Francis on Saturday called for a “just solution” to the conflict – the sort of neutral, anodyne language he is expected to adhere to during the stay.”

noun

1. Any medicine or other agent that relieves pain.
2. (figuratively)A source of relaxation or comfort.

   “Nor do I mean to say that Virtue is not Virtue because it is never tempted to go astray; only that dulness is a much finer gift than we give it credit for being; and that some people are very lucky whom Nature has endowed with a good store of that great anodyne.”

   “The air was heavy with the perfume of the flowers, and their beauty seemed to bring him an anodyne for his pain.”

   “So, with a sigh, because novels so often provide an anodyne and not an antidote, glide one into torpid slumbers instead of rousing one with a burning brand.”