antiretroviral

adjective

an·​ti·​re·​tro·​vi·​ral ˌan-tē-ˈre-trō-ˌvī-rəl How to pronounce antiretroviral (audio)
ˌan-tī-
: acting, used, or effective against retroviruses
antiretroviral drugs
antiretroviral therapy
antiretroviral noun

Examples of antiretroviral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Achmat is best known for co-founding the Treatment Action Campaign in 1998, which successfully advocated to make antiretroviral drugs that carried high prices in wealthy countries affordable in Africa. Byscience News Staff, science.org, 19 Sep. 2024 In the 2010s, the global health initiative Unitaid helped create a Medicines Patent Pool, in which pharmaceutical companies from all over the world offered antiretroviral drug licenses, thereby creating a path for developing generic versions so long as the patent holders received royalties. Peter J. Hotez, Foreign Affairs, 10 May 2021 In the early 2000’s AIDS was no longer a death sentence in the United States and in Europe thanks to widespread access to inexpensive antiretroviral therapy. Jennifer Lotito, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024 Activists’ hard work to organize around access to antiretroviral therapy—even when couched in a broader health and social justice agenda —had inadvertently buttressed claims that HIV was exceptional. Adia Benton, Foreign Affairs, 10 Mar. 2016 See all Example Sentences for antiretroviral 

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of antiretroviral was in 1979

Dictionary Entries Near antiretroviral

Cite this Entry

“Antiretroviral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antiretroviral. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

antiretroviral

1 of 2 adjective
an·​ti·​ret·​ro·​vi·​ral -ˈre-trō-ˌvī-rəl How to pronounce antiretroviral (audio)
variants also anti-retroviral
: acting, used, or effective against retroviruses
All four drugs, which inhibit HIV protease and thus interfere with viral maturation and replication, are the most potent antiretroviral agents available to treat patients with HIV disease.The Journal of the American Medical Association
antiretroviral therapy
see highly active antiretroviral therapy

antiretroviral

2 of 2 noun
variants also anti-retroviral
: an agent effective against retroviruses
Current anti-HIV drugs, or antiretrovirals, bind to specific HIV enzymes and impede their activity.Douglas D. Richman, Scientific American
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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