Adjacent Words

Wholesome definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WHOLESOME, a. [G.]
1. Tending to promote health; favoring health; salubrious; as wholesome air or diet; a wholesome climate.
2. Sound; contributing to the health of the mind; favorable to morals, religion or prosperity; as wholesome advice; wholesome doctrines; wholesome truths.
3. Useful; salutary; conducive to public happiness, virtue or peace; as a wholesome law.
4. That utters sound words.
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. Proverbs 15.
5. Kindly; pleasing; as a wholesome answer.
Wholesome ship, a ship that will try, hull and ride well.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: conducive to or characteristic of physical or moral well- being; "wholesome attitude"; "wholesome appearance"; "wholesome food" [ant: unwholesome]
2: sound or exhibiting soundness in body or mind; "exercise develops wholesome appetites"; "a grin on his ugly wholesome face"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 13th century 1. promoting health or well-being of mind or spirit 2. promoting health of body 3. a. sound in body, mind, or morals b. having the simple health or vigor of normal domesticity 4. a. based on well-grounded fear ; prudent <a wholesome respect for the law> b. safe <it wouldn't be wholesome for you to go down there — Mark Twain> Synonyms: see healthful, healthy • wholesomely adverb • wholesomeness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 promoting or indicating physical, mental, or moral health (wholesome pursuits; a wholesome appearance). 2 prudent (wholesome respect). Derivatives: wholesomely adv. wholesomeness n. Etymology: ME, prob. f. OE (unrecorded) halsum (as WHOLE, -SOME(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wholesome Whole"some, a. [Compar. Wholesomer; superl. Wholesomest.] [Whole + some; cf. Icel. heilsamr, G. heilsam, D. heilzaam.] 1. Tending to promote health; favoring health; salubrious; salutary. Wholesome thirst and appetite. --Milton. From which the industrious poor derive an agreeable and wholesome variety of food. --A Smith. 2. Contributing to the health of the mind; favorable to morals, religion, or prosperity; conducive to good; salutary; sound; as, wholesome advice; wholesome doctrines; wholesome truths; wholesome laws. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. --Prov. xv. 4. I can not . . . make you a wholesome answer; my wit's diseased. --Shak. A wholesome suspicion began to be entertained. --Sir W. Scott. 3. Sound; healthy. [Obs.] --Shak. -- Whole"some*ly, adv. -- Whole"some*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe something as wholesome, you approve of it because you think it is likely to have a positive influence on people's behaviour or mental state, especially because it does not involve anything sexually immoral. ...good, wholesome fun. ADJ [approval] 2. If you describe food as wholesome, you approve of it because you think it is good for your health. ...fresh, wholesome ingredients... The food is filling and wholesome. = nutritious ADJ [approval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Healthy, healthful, salubrious, salutary, salutiferous, helpful, nourishing, nutritious, strengthening, invigorating, roborant. 2. Beneficial, salutary, helpful, improving, good. 3. Sound, healthy, uncorrupt, fresh.

Moby Thesaurus

admissible, all, all in all, all there, altogether, balanced, beneficial, benign, bracing, bunkum, clearheaded, clearminded, cogent, completely, compos mentis, constitutional, credible, curing, entirely, exactly, fit, fully, good, good for, hale, healing, health-enhancing, health-preserving, healthful, healthy, healthy-minded, hygeian, hygienic, in toto, invigorating, just, justifiable, legitimate, logical, lucid, mentally sound, normal, of sound mind, perfectly, plausible, purely, quite, rational, reasonable, refreshing, remedial, restorative, right, roundly, salubrious, salutary, sanative, sanatory, sane, sane-minded, sanitary, sensible, sound, sound-minded, thoroughly, together, tonic, totally, unimpaired, uninjurious, utterly, vulnerary, well, well-argued, well-founded, well-grounded, whole, wholly