The Collaborative Dictionary

Wholesome \Whole"some\, a. [Compar. Wholesomer; superl. Wholesomest.] [Whole + some; cf. Icel. heilsamr, G. heilsam, D. heilzaam.] [1913 Webster]

Tending to promote health; favoring health; salubrious; salutary. [1913 Webster] Wholesome thirst and appetite. --Milton. [1913 Webster] From which the industrious poor derive an agreeable and wholesome variety of food. --A Smith. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster] A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. --Prov. xv.

[1913 Webster] I can not . . . make you a wholesome answer; my wit's diseased. --Shak. [1913 Webster] A wholesome suspicion began to be entertained. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

Sound; healthy. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster] -- Whole"some*ly, adv. -- Whole"some*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

Word Net

wholesome 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"

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

English

Adjective

1. promoting good moral, mental and physical health and well-being
2. sound and healthy
3. promoting virtue or being virtuous

Antonyms

• unwholesome

Translations