unhealthy
Americanadjective
-
not in a state of good or normal health; in an unsound, weak, or morbid condition.
- Synonyms:
- sickly
-
symptomatic of or resulting from bad health.
an unhealthy pallor.
-
not conducive to good health; unhealthful.
Night air was formerly considered unhealthy.
- Synonyms:
- deleterious, unhygienic
-
morally bad, harmful, or contaminating.
unhealthy examples for the young.
-
dangerous; risky.
Asking questions in this neighborhood can be unhealthy.
adjective
-
characterized by ill-health; sick; unwell
-
characteristic of, conducive to, or resulting from ill-health
an unhealthy complexion
an unhealthy atmosphere
-
morbid or unwholesome
-
informal dangerous; risky
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unhealthy
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:
There are two types of friendship: healthy friendships and unhealthy friendships, but no friendship is perfect, and it can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between the two.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
There are new issues to concern ourselves with in mid-life and, as you'd expect, Horgan doesn't shy away from embarrassing situations or mildly unhealthy preoccupations.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
His staff focus on efforts to prevent illness caused by "the unhealthy air people inhale every day".
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
The results suggest that something as basic as checking waist size could give doctors and patients a practical way to identify potentially unhealthy levels of body fat and recognize related health concerns earlier.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
And the tears in Merchant Lyte’s unhealthy, brilliant black eyes—the tremor in his pompous ‘ah-ha-ha’ manner of speech as he clutched his ‘long-lost whatever-you-are’ to his costly waistcoat.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
"This government will not look away as children get unhealthier," Streeting said.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
Previous studies have shown that getting too little sleep can drive people toward unhealthier eating patterns, often higher in fat and sugar.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2025
Mohiuddin says he’s concerned that overtampering with the pig genome could lead to unhealthier pigs and lower-performing donor kidneys.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 11, 2023
These findings tell us a lot about why people living in poorer areas tend to be unhealthier than people living in wealthy areas.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2022
The cultivation of separate sorts of virtues and separate ideals of duty in men and women has led to the whole social fabric being weaker and unhealthier than it need be.
From Reviews by Oscar Wilde
Several factors have led to this remarkable change, which has helped turn the U.S. into one of the unhealthiest countries among the world’s advanced economies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2025
Grande added, "There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful. I know personally for me, the body you've been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body."
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2024
The Bronx, New York City's poorest borough, is ranked as the unhealthiest of New York's 62 counties.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2024
Both promoted self-care as a critical component of their platforms, the notion being that an activist community is only as healthy as its unhealthiest member.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2022
They were assigned a dwelling-place in the vilest and unhealthiest part of the city, and their quarter was called Ghetto, from the Hebrew nghedah, a congregation.
From Venetian Life by William Dean Howells
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.
