healthy

[ hel-thee ]
See synonyms for: healthyhealthierhealthiesthealthily on Thesaurus.com

adjective,health·i·er, health·i·est.
  1. possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality: a healthy body;a healthy mind.

  2. pertaining to or characteristic of good health or a sound and vigorous mind: a healthy appearance;healthy attitudes.

  1. conducive to good health; healthful: healthy recreations.

  2. eligible for the Food and Drug Administration's label certifying that a food is suitable for helping consumers achieve a total diet that conforms to dietary recommendations.

  3. prosperous or sound: a healthy business.

  4. Informal. fairly large: I bought a healthy number of books.

Origin of healthy

1
First recorded in 1545–55; health + -y1

synonym study For healthy

3. Healthy, healthful, salubrious, salutary, wholesome refer to the promotion of health. Healthy, while applied especially to what possesses health, is also applicable to what is conducive to health: a healthy climate; not a healthy place to be. Healthful and salubrious are applied chiefly to what is conducive to health: healthful diet or exercise; a salubrious impact on mental outlook. Salutary suggests something that is conducive to well-being generally, as well as beneficial in preserving or in restoring health: salutary effects; to take salutary measures. It is used also to indicate moral benefit: to have a salutary fear of devious behavior. Wholesome has connotations of attractive freshness and purity; it applies to what is good for one, physically, morally, or both: wholesome food; wholesome influences or advice.

Other words for healthy

Opposites for healthy

Other words from healthy

  • health·i·ly, adverb
  • health·i·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with healthy

  • healthful, healthy (see synonym study at the current entry)

Words Nearby healthy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use healthy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for healthy

healthy

/ (ˈhɛlθɪ) /


adjectivehealthier or healthiest
  1. enjoying good health

  2. functioning well or being sound: the company's finances are not very healthy

  1. conducive to health; salutary

  2. indicating soundness of body or mind: a healthy appetite

  3. informal considerable in size or amount: a healthy sum

Derived forms of healthy

  • healthily, adverb
  • healthiness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012