undernourished
Americanadjective
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not nourished with sufficient or proper food to maintain or promote health or normal growth.
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not given essential elements for proper development.
emotionally undernourished.
Usage
What does undernourished mean? Undernourished is an adjective that means not provided with enough food or nutrients to grow and develop in a healthy way. It comes from the past tense of the verb undernourish, meaning to fail to provide (or intentionally withhold) enough food or nutrients. The verb nourish means to promote healthy growth—to provide enough of what’s needed for someone or something to be healthy and to grow and develop. Nourish is most commonly used in relation to food, but can be used in figurative ways that don’t involve food: education nourishes our minds; a vacation can nourish our spirit. Undernourish and undernourished can also be used in these figurative ways, but both are usually used in the context of nutrition, especially in relation to children who are not provided with enough nourishing food. The adjective malnourished is similar but is often used in more extreme cases involving malnutrition. It’s also possible to use undernourished in the context of other living things that require nutrients, such as plants. Example: If we fail to provide healthy lunches that are available to all children, we will end up with a lot of undernourished students.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of undernourished
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Vocabulary lists containing undernourished
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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.
The boys, ages 23 and 16, one dangerously undernourished and both claiming to have been raised “off the grid” in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, showed up in town and immediately caused a rift.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
Most of the country is kept well hidden, with more than four in 10 people believed to be undernourished and needing help.
From BBC • Feb. 28, 2025
When someone is underweight or undernourished, the immediate goal is medical stability—even if it means relying entirely on “safe foods” to get there.
From Slate • Jan. 4, 2025
"We believe this new model will help us investigate many of the major challenges facing undernourished children, including higher rates of infection and changes in cognitive development," said Cowardin, part of UVA's Department of Pediatrics.
From Science Daily • May 10, 2024
Art looked undernourished and lost as he stepped into the circle to jump ball with Sanders.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
