sanitary
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to health or the conditions affecting health, especially with reference to cleanliness, precautions against disease, etc.
- Synonyms:
- antiseptic, unpolluted, germfree, clean
- Antonyms:
- septic, polluted, unhealthy, unwholesome, unclean
-
favorable to health; free from dirt, bacteria, etc..
a sanitary washroom.
- Synonyms:
- salutary, healthy, antiseptic, unpolluted, germfree, clean
- Antonyms:
- septic, polluted, unhealthy, unwholesome, unclean
-
providing healthy cleanliness.
a sanitary wrapper on all sandwiches.
adjective
-
of or relating to health and measures for the protection of health
-
conducive to or promoting health; free from dirt, germs, etc; hygienic
Related Words
Sanitary, hygienic agree in being concerned with health. Sanitary refers more especially to conditions affecting health or measures for guarding against infection or disease: to insure sanitary conditions in preparing food. Hygienic is applied to whatever concerns the care of the body and the promotion of health: to live in hygienic surroundings with plenty of fresh air.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sanitary
First recorded in 1835–45; from Latin sānit(ās) “health” ( see sanity) + -ary
Explanation
When something's sanitary, it's extremely clean. It's important for hospitals to be sanitary. The adjective sanitary is useful when you need something stronger than just "clean." Sanitary implies the absence of germs as well as a clean appearance — you probably hope that your favorite restaurant's kitchen is sanitary, and your visiting friends will appreciate your bathroom being sanitary as well. The origin of sanitary is the Latin word sanitas, or "health," from the root sanus, which means both "healthy" and "sane."
Vocabulary lists containing sanitary
Holes
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Theodore Roosevelt on "New Nationalism" (1910)
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List 5
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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.
Sanitary Commission was paid for by contributions from the public; it was also, at first, opposed by the hidebound Army Medical Department.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
Sanitary and medical attention were also areas of concern noted in the inspection.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2025
Another trending phrase that has caught on amid the blowback encapsulates the outrage: "Sanitary pads yield a centimetre; women yield for a lifetime."
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2024
Before the passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972, transit of invasive species through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal wasn't an issue.
From Salon • Jun. 13, 2023
Hugh's family was hobnobbing with chiefs and sultans while I ate hush puppies at the Sanitary Fish Market in Morehead City, a beach towel wrapped like a hijab around my head.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
