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• hale
  hale

  adjective

  free from disease or infirmity; robust; vigorous.
• Hale
  Hale

  noun

  Edward Everett, 1822–1909, U.S. clergyman and author.

hale

¹ American  

[heyl] / heɪl /

adjective

haler, halest

1. free from disease or infirmity; robust; vigorous.

   hale and hearty men in the prime of life.

   Synonyms:

   healthy, sound

   Antonyms:

   sickly

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hale ² American  

[heyl] / heɪl /

verb (used with object)

haled, haling

1. to compel (someone) to go.

   to hale a man into court.

2. to haul; pull.

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hale ³ American  

[hah-ley] / ˈhɑ leɪ /

noun

1. (in Hawaii) a simple thatched-roof dwelling.

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Hale ⁴ American  

[heyl] / heɪl /

noun

1. Edward Everett, 1822–1909, U.S. clergyman and author.

2. George Ellery 1868–1938, U.S. astronomer.

3. Sir Matthew, 1609–76, British jurist: Lord Chief Justice 1671–76.

4. Nathan, 1755–76, American soldier hanged as a spy by the British during the American Revolution.

5. Sarah Josepha 1788–1879, U.S. editor and author.

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Hale ¹ British  

/ heɪl /

noun

1. George Ellery. 1868–1938, US astronomer: undertook research into sunspots and invented the spectroheliograph

2. Sir Matthew. 1609–76, English judge and scholar; Lord Chief Justice (1671–76)

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hale ² British  

/ heɪl /

adjective

1. healthy and robust (esp in the phrase hale and hearty )

2. dialect whole

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hale ³ British  

/ heɪl /

verb

1. (tr) to pull or drag; haul

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Other Word Forms

• haleness
  noun
• haler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of hale¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English (northern and Scottish); Old English hāl “sound, uninjured”; see origin at whole, heal ( def. )

Origin of hale²

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English hal(l)en, hailen “to drag, pull,” from Old French haler, from Germanic; compare Dutch halen “to pull, fetch”; akin to Old English geholian “to get, obtain,” German holen “to fetch”; see also haul

Origin of hale³

First recorded in 1885–90; from Hawaiian; literally, “house, hall, building”

Explanation

If you're hale, you’re strong and in good health. Think "hale and hearty," the well-known phrase to describe someone who can lift a piano or work ten hours in a field without blinking an eye. Don't confuse hale with hail. Hale, again, is healthy. Hail is for hailing a cab, or hailing to Caesar, and it also means a kind of precipitation where frozen ice balls pour down from the sky. Hale is a word that conjures up country folk, farming stock, people who swear that they haven’t had to go to a doctor in ten years because they sleep with the windows open 365 days a year.

Example Sentences

A hale and hearty speed signifies that your body’s systems—including your heart, lungs, muscles and nervous system—are working well together.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

During the 1918–19 flu pandemic, however, doctors and other observers noted a high death toll among young, presumably hale adults.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 9, 2023

Gaining any new clarity about surging reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, will take time, better data gathering and diagnostic tools and, perhaps most importantly, a hale and hearty dose of nit-picking scientific scrutiny.

From Scientific American • Jun. 9, 2023

I was lucky to be hale and have access to free advice; my father and I got along best when I had a physical problem he could fix over the phone.

From Salon • Jun. 18, 2022

Robert Baratheon had looked old and fat when he visited Winterfell, yet he'd seemed hale enough, and there'd been no talk of illness.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin