healthy

1 of 2

adjective

ˈhel-thē How to pronounce healthy (audio)
 also  ˈhelt-
healthier; healthiest
1
a
: enjoying good health
healthy children
tips for staying healthy
: free from disease
Damping off rots healthy seedlings at soil level, breaking the heart of the gardener as surely as it breaks tender stems.Leslie Land
A person with heart disease will not be able to tolerate the same doses and drugs as a person with a healthy heart.Sallie Tisdale
b
: not displaying clinical signs of disease or infection
A patient with HIV may be healthy for several years before developing either the cluster of symptoms identified as AIDS or any of the bacterial, viral, fungal or protozoal infections known as AIDS Related Complex …Al Veerhoff
2
: beneficial to one's physical, mental, or emotional state : conducive to or associated with good health or reduced risk of disease
healthy foods
a healthy lifestyle
… walk three miles every day … a beastly bore, but healthy.G. S. Patton
3
: showing physical, mental, or emotional well-being : evincing good health
a healthy complexion
has a healthy appetite
The best thing about a good sense of humor, of course, is that it's a sure sign that you have a healthy attitude—always a refreshing check in the plus column.Glamour
4
a
: prosperous, flourishing
a healthy economy
b
: not small or feeble : considerable
a healthy sum of money
healthily adverb
eat healthily
healthiness noun
Much has been made in recent years of the healthiness of the Mediterranean diet, with its emphasis on fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil. R. W. Apple, Jr.

healthy

2 of 2

adverb

variants or less commonly healthily
healthier; healthiest
: in a way that is beneficial to one's health
Let's face it: As much as we like to eat healthy, the old sweet tooth sometimes gets the best of us.Denise I. O'Neal
It's the time of year where fitness centres are full of well-intentioned people who have New Year's resolutions to live healthier.Doug Lunney
The aim is not to live longer but to age healthily, slowing down the onset of age-related diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and arthritis.University of Oxford
The survey … also found 57 per cent say they have made changes to cook more healthilyMichael Barker
Choose the Right Synonym for healthy

healthy, sound, wholesome, robust, hale, well mean enjoying or indicative of good health.

healthy implies full strength and vigor as well as freedom from signs of disease.

a healthy family

sound emphasizes the absence of disease, weakness, or malfunction.

a sound heart

wholesome implies appearance and behavior indicating soundness and balance.

a face with a wholesome glow

robust implies the opposite of all that is delicate or sickly.

a lively, robust little boy

hale applies particularly to robustness in old age.

still hale at the age of eighty

well implies merely freedom from disease or illness.

she has never been a well person

Examples of healthy in a Sentence

Adjective The company is financially healthy. always a hard worker, Grandma has remained healthy into her 80s
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Despite the losing skid, Larranaga remains optimistic for Wednesday and next week because the full team was healthy as of Monday afternoon. Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024 Use a frosting bag kit to create the colorful rainbow design on top. 07 of 25 Mint Greek Frozen Yogurt View Recipe This healthy St. Patrick’s Day dessert will bring some chill to your holiday. Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Mar. 2024 This is certainly territory for discoveries and breakouts – a healthy Málaga tradition. Callum McLennan, Variety, 5 Mar. 2024 Additionally, excess belly fat links to inflammation in the body, and the Mediterranean diet helps maintain healthy body weight. Andrea Stanley, Health, 4 Mar. 2024 Monitoring equipment documented other healthy yearling coho and Chinook salmon that came from downstream of the dam. Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 4 Mar. 2024 The company’s founder, Zhenghua Yang, gets nostalgic for prepandemic days when people hung out at the office over potlucks and Ping-Pong — but also notices that his employees now seem to have a healthier balance between family and professional life. Emma Goldberg, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Get in a nutritious breakfast:Here's the healthiest cereal to eat in the morning What are the 7 whole grains? Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024 To prevent low energy, eat consistently throughout the day and include all the major food groups—carbs, protein, and healthy fats. Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 4 Mar. 2024
Adverb
Keeping her family healthy felt unequivocal, until Harrison was suddenly worried about the consequences of those choices. Caitlin Gibson, Washington Post, 28 Aug. 2023 Even with Johnson back healthy this year, Auburn chose to address the center position in the transfer portal, bringing in the top available center on the market in Jones, who spent the last three seasons at Eastern Carolina. Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, 26 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'healthy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

see health

First Known Use

Adjective

1552, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1572, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of healthy was in 1552

Dictionary Entries Near healthy

Cite this Entry

“Healthy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/healthy. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

healthy

adjective
healthier; healthiest
1
a
: being in good health : well
b
: indicating good health
healthy complexion
2
3
a
: enjoying vigorous and rapid growth
a healthy economy
b
: not small or feeble : considerable
a healthy crowd in attendance
healthily adverb
healthiness noun

Medical Definition

healthy

adjective
healthier; healthiest
1
: enjoying health and vigor of body, mind, or spirit
2
: revealing a state of health
a healthy complexion
3
: conducive to health
healthily adverb
healthiness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on healthy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!