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:
After spending time in Europe rehabbing his hamstring over the summer, Doncic said he’s healthy and ready to go with no restrictions when the Lakers begin training camp Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
A healthy brain and a brain affected by Alzheimer's may therefore respond differently to the same molecule.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
But scratch that surface and the picture looks a lot less healthy.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 27, 2026
Decades of research show that a healthy blend of challenge, complexity and connection drive skill development, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
But the team is moving and seems healthy and everybody is eating and drinking and the scenery is so beautiful that it doesn’t matter how far we’re behind.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
"It's had a real impact on my day to day life," he says, "improving my mood and making me feel generally healthier."
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Across Europe, consumers are generally operating from an overall healthier financing foundation, paying a higher percentage of the purchase price in cash with less reliance on finance, according to Thor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
"The current state of the case is a mess. If I had a younger, healthier client, I would invite you to put back the trial by six months... but I don't," said Duterte's lawyer.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
“If that’s right, it could mean Shingrix is nudging the whole trajectory of neuroinflammation in a healthier direction.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
He also told him that children were healthier if they were born to younger parents and Charles wasn’t getting any younger; he was nearing thirty.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
The disadvantages of Broadcom’s AI-chip strategy are also coming into sharper focus as the financial capacity of the healthiest tech companies gets stretched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Avoiding drinking during pregnancy is the healthiest choice for both you and your baby.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
The place is family-owned and probably has the healthiest ice cream you’ll find.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
The healthiest part of the labor market is, well, healthcare.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
These were the biggest and healthiest rabbits he had ever met.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
