healthy
Americanadjective
-
healthier,
comparative
-
healthiest
superlative
-
possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality.
a healthy body;
a healthy mind.
- Antonyms:
- sick
-
pertaining to or characteristic of good health or a sound and vigorous mind.
a healthy appearance;
healthy attitudes.
-
conducive to good health; healthful.
healthy recreations.
- Synonyms:
- nourishing, nutritious
-
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.
-
prosperous or sound.
a healthy business.
-
Informal. fairly large.
I bought a healthy number of books.
adjective
-
enjoying good health
-
functioning well or being sound
the company's finances are not very healthy
-
conducive to health; salutary
-
indicating soundness of body or mind
a healthy appetite
-
informal considerable in size or amount
a healthy sum
Synonym Usage
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 Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of healthy
Explanation
Healthy means having good health. It's the opposite of sick, but also can mean "doing well" in a general sense. You can have a healthy attitude, or be served a healthy portion of food. Health is one of the most fundamental human concerns. The ubiquitous "How are you?" is often asking after a person's health. To remember healthy think of the proverb: "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise."
Vocabulary lists containing healthy
List 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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Commonly Confused Words, List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
Singapore is one of the world's fastest aging countries and its seniors are embracing the challenge of staying healthy creatively.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Only 7% of American adults have healthy blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and weight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The group included both healthy individuals and people with a previous history of heart problems.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Car sales are choppy from month to month, but sales have been surprisingly healthy so far this year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
"A fine healthy boy," he heard someone say.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
Nee says the continued presence of the water voles is a sign the river is looking healthier.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
And the recipe has changed to make the snack healthier, he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The findings point to better sleep, healthier blood vessels, reduced inflammation, and other exercise-related changes as possible contributors.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
There isn’t one type of European food, and despite the difference in regulatory approach here and there, food in Europe is also not definitively healthier than in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Doctors used to think margarine was healthier for you than butter and would not cause heart disease.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
The healthiest part of the labor market is, well, healthcare.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
"Given what I went through, it's wild that it's the only thing I'm left with. I'm the healthiest and fittest I've ever been," she says.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
“These are the healthiest people in the population.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
Qi Dai, MD, PhD, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and lead author of the study, explained that the healthiest vitamin D range appears to fall in the middle of a U-shaped curve.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 30, 2025
The healthiest things on the menu are the peppers and onions you can add to a pie.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
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.
