抗生物質(こうせいぶっしつ)

こうせいぶっしつ
noun
antibiotic
medicalhealth
1. antibiotic
A type of medication used to treat bacterial infections by killing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria.
医者(いしゃ)に抗生物質(こうせいぶっしつ)を処方(しょほう)された。
The doctor prescribed me antibiotics.
抗生物質(こうせいぶっしつ)は最後(さいご)まで飲(の)みきってください。
Please take the full course of antibiotics.
Overuse of antibiotics is a cause of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Usage

抗生物質(こうせいぶっしつ) is the formal/technical term for antibiotics. In everyday conversation, people often simply say 抗生剤(こうせいざい) or informally refer to them as their specific medication name.

Common collocations

Watch out

Antibiotics treat bacterial infections, not viral ones. Japanese doctors sometimes explain this as 抗生物質(こうせいぶっしつ)は風邪(かぜ)には効(き)かない (antibiotics don't work for colds).