nourishing
Americanadjective
Usage
What does nourishing mean? Nourishing is an adjective that describes things that nourish—do or provide what’s needed for someone or something to be healthy and to grow and develop. The word is most commonly used in relation to food. Nourishing food is filled with nutrients that help us to grow and stay healthy. A more common word to describe such food is nutritious. However, nourishing can be used in many other contexts, including those that don’t involve food, as in a nourishing atmosphere for students. Example: As a mother, it’s my job to provide my kids with things that are physically, mentally, and emotionally nourishing.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of nourishing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They reflect a trend of eating in a nourishing way,” said Marie Bragg, associate professor of population health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
"Instead of being solely focused on athletics, I'm making sure that I'm nourishing some things away from the track," she adds.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026
Groceries cost more, time feels thinner and the idea that eating well — both pleasurable and nourishing — should be attainable on a modest budget can feel almost quaint.
From Salon • Dec. 28, 2025
It would be strategically worse than managed dependence because we’d be nourishing our own competition in the second-largest AI market in the world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025
Although Europeans bemoaned the lack of salt in Indian cuisine, they thought it nourishing.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
