mother's little helper
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A tranquilizer taken to reduce anxiety; meprobamate, diazepam.
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
Bored with the emptiness of her life, she was said to be increasingly turning to the consolations of “mother's little helper”—new lines of tranquilizing drugs, such as Librium and Miltown, meant to soothe the female anxieties that Betty Friedan decried in her bestselling The Feminine Mystique.
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “mother's little helper” mean?
A tranquilizer taken to reduce anxiety; meprobamate, diazepam.
Is “mother's little helper” formal or informal?
mother's little helper is generally slang.