hygienic
Americanadjective
Usage
What does hygienic mean? Hygienic is commonly used to mean clean and sanitary. It can also mean promoting good health or related to or involving hygiene—a collection of practices to promote and preserve health, or a condition involving the use of such practices. In the most popular sense, hygiene refers to habitual actions that help you stay physically healthy, such as washing your hands and brushing your teeth. This sense of the word is especially used in phrases like personal hygiene and good hygiene. Personal hygiene is closely associated with cleanliness. Hygiene can also be applied to one’s mental well-being—mental hygiene is the practice of trying to maintain mental health through proactive behavior and treatment. The word hygiene is also used to refer to the science that deals with preserving health—both of individuals and the general public. Another word for this is hygienics. Example: Hygienic practices like washing your hands are the easiest ways to avoid illness.
Synonym Usage
See sanitary.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hygienic
Explanation
If something is hygienic it is good for your health or promotes healthy habits. Mothers are always spouting hygienic messages like "Wash your hands!" or "Brush your teeth!" Hygienic comes from the ancient Greek word hygies, meaning "healthy" or, literally, "living well." This state was represented by the Goddess Hygieia, the embodiment of health and cleanliness. Hygienic is often used indiscriminately with sanitary, though in fact sanitary implies a particular nose-wrinkling emphasis on proper sewage disposal and clean water that is only a part of the Greeks' original concept of a more comprehensive physical and mental well being.
Vocabulary lists containing hygienic
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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"The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century," Vocabulary from Chapter 7
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Better Nate Than Ever
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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.
At his factory west of Tokyo, workers in hygienic uniforms wash, steam -- and lavishly spray bacteria on -- soybeans that machines then meticulously assemble in cups, before fermenting them for 18 hours.
From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026
Management of food safety at Ynyshir was categorised as needing major improvement, as was cleanliness and condition of facilities, while "hygienic food handling" was rated "generally satisfactory".
From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026
"Our results suggest that beliefs about water safety may actually contribute to contamination because people don't take the same hygienic steps with sources they trust that they might with other less trusted sources," Ramay said.
From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2026
It's also worth noting that soaking poultry in a brine of water and vinegar or citrus juice does not make it more hygienic.
From Salon • Nov. 27, 2023
“How about an elbow bump instead? It’s hygienic and fun!”
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
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.
