apothecaries

noun

plural of apothecary
1
as in pharmacists
a person who prepares drugs according to a doctor's prescription in olden days the apothecary had few drugs that actually cured anything, most substances being little more than pain relievers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in pharmacies
a retail store where medicines and miscellaneous articles are sold the historic village boasts an old-fashioned apothecary that's been there for almost a century and a half

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of apothecaries Mummy powder was one of the top-selling items at apothecaries across Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. — Michele Metych Britannica Editors Sep. 29, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026 Everyday rituals, like cooking with intention or creating herbal apothecaries, are becoming magical and meaningful hobbies. — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 27 Aug. 2026 There were few professional doctors, so healthcare came from midwives, bonesetters who also cut hair and removed cataracts, ministers, and community members, including apothecaries and plantation root doctors who were knowledgeable about plants. — Katherine Ott, The Conversation, 2 July 2026 Eventually, hard candies were made from the plant and carried in many apothecaries and general stores. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 23 June 2026 Belif is predominantly a skin care brand, inspired by 19th-century apothecaries and their herbal medicines, mixed with modern scientific Korean beauty theory. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026 In densely populated neighborhoods of flimsy wooden houses, charcoal braziers tumbled over, fuel tanks ruptured, combustible chemicals in apothecaries exploded, and high winds fanned the flames through alleys. — Joshua Hammer, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026 For decades after the nation’s founding, doctors had competition from homeopaths, herbalists, apothecaries, midwives, and religious healers—not to mention mothers. — Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apothecaries
  1. pharmacists
  2. pharmacies
Noun
  • The panel of outside experts that met in July was selected by Kennedy's health department and included several doctors, pharmacists and consultants who work in the peptide field.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The pool of people who can administer vaccines is now expanded to include paramedics, advanced EMS providers, pharmacists and midwives.
    — Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of pharmacists
Noun
  • The policy directs the FDA not to take action against specialty pharmacies that sell a half-dozen wellness peptides, including BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Despite that lack of evidence, the loosening of restrictions has come after the FDA began analyzing how to make the substances more accessible and convened a panel to discuss allowing compounding pharmacies to manufacture them.
    — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of pharmacies

Browse Nearby Words

apostolic
apothecaries
apothecary
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Apothecaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apothecaries. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shindig

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All