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.
Related Words
See sanitary.
Other Word Forms
- antihygienic adjective
- antihygienically adverb
- hygienically adverb
- nonhygienic adjective
- unhygienic adjective
- unhygienically adverb
Etymology
Origin of hygienic
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.
The Scottish government said it was focussed on developing legislation to ensure all procedures are delivered from "hygienic premises by appropriately trained practitioners, applying recognised standards and using regulated products".
From BBC
It wasn’t hygienic enough for someone so sick.
From Literature
"This is not hygienic. They left him there like a dog, like someone who's been thrown away," she added.
From BBC
Fire victims say they have experienced slow responses from insurance company claims handlers, been rotated to multiple adjusters, denied hygienic testing for toxic chemicals and been given lowball offers.
From Los Angeles Times
The National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations, says that in social housing carpets have historically been removed between lets as standard practice, for practical and hygienic reasons.
From BBC
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.
