nutraceutical

American  

[noo-truh-soo-ti-kuhl] / ˌnu trəˈsu tɪ kəl /

Also nutriceutical

noun

1. a bioactive compound occurring as a food component, additive, or product, including vitamins, dietary fiber, herbal extracts, carotenoids, and probiotics: nutraceuticals are said to promote health and well-being, allegedly helping in the prevention and treatment of disease.

---

nutraceutical British  

/ ˌnjuːtrəˈsjuːtɪkəl /

noun

1. another name for functional food

---

Etymology

Origin of nutraceutical

Blend of nutrient ( def. ) and pharmaceutical ( def. ); coined by Stephen DeFelice, U.S. endocrinologist, in 1989

Example Sentences

Crucially, the patients who took the nutraceutical tablets did not experience any side-effects.

From Science Daily • Dec. 10, 2025

The nutraceutical is made in India, where it is regulated as a food for special medical purpose, or FSMP, and then shipped around the world.

From Washington Post • Nov. 25, 2022

Elysium’s first nutraceutical product, called Basis, promises “metabolic repair and optimization.”

From The New Yorker • Mar. 27, 2017

And by the way, where were those Facebook ads for our nutraceutical client?

From Slate • Oct. 30, 2015

Tom Riddle of Philadelphia, a 55-year-old director at a nutraceutical company;

From Newsweek