wholesome
Americanadjective
-
conducive to moral or general well-being; salutary; beneficial.
wholesome recreation;
wholesome environment.
-
conducive to bodily health; healthful; salubrious.
wholesome food;
wholesome air;
wholesome exercise.
- Synonyms:
- nutritious, nourishing
-
suggestive of physical or moral health, especially in appearance.
-
healthy or sound.
adjective
-
conducive to health or physical wellbeing
-
conducive to moral wellbeing
-
characteristic or suggestive of health or wellbeing, esp in appearance
Synonym Usage
See healthy.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wholesome
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English ho(o)lsom; equivalent to whole + -some 1; cognate with Old High German heilsam, Old Norse heilsamr
Explanation
Anything wholesome is good for you. Hopscotch is in most cases a wholesome game, since you can't get into much trouble while hopping up and down on the concrete. Wholesome foods are the ones that your body appreciates, the ones that help you stay healthy. Marshmallows and corn chips aren't what you'd call wholesome, but organically grown fruits and vegetables are. Wholesome can also apply to other things. If you project a wholesome image, other people see you as a decent, moral person, somebody who's trustworthy and not living a secret life of crime. The word wholesome comes from the Old English hal, meaning "healthy."
Vocabulary lists containing wholesome
The Omnivore's Dilemma
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The War That Saved My Life
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Chew On This
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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.
“I didn’t want that clean, wholesome life ... It felt so fake. I identified with real people, oppressed people who were outside that life. I wanted to taste real life — street life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
"This morning was really wholesome," World Cup winner Alex Hartley told BBC Test Match Special, having been included in the celebrations.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Others will make the mistake because they’re eager for a wholesome reminder that not everything here is that bad.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
The production value is much higher than it was on the famed NBC version from the 1970s and the ’80s, but the vibes are just as wholesome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Undoing all their wholesome death-conditioning with this disgusting outcry—as though death were something terrible, as though any one mattered as much as all that!
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
