macrobiotic

adjective

mac·​ro·​bi·​ot·​ic ˌma-krō-bī-ˈä-tik 

-bē-

: of, relating to, or being a diet based on the Chinese cosmological principles of yin and yang that consists of whole cereals and grains supplemented especially with beans and vegetables and that in its especially former more restrictive forms has been linked to nutritional deficiencies

macrobiotics

ˌma-krō-bī-ˈä-tiks 

-bē-

noun, plural in form but singular in construction

Examples of macrobiotic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Foods with active macrobiotic cultures like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha are great for building healthy, diverse gut bacteria. —Paul Von Zielbauer, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2025

People on a macrobiotic diet aim to avoid foods that contain toxins, with many eating only vegan foods, according to the charity Cancer Research UK’s website. —Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2025

Overwhelmed by fear and despair, Radner, who had a history of eating disorders, was drawn to members of the Wellness Community who followed a strict macrobiotic diet. —Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2025

Or boil beans with kombu kelp the macrobiotic way, which helps with their digestibility and adds flavor. —Nina F. Ichikawa, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French macrobiotique, probably adapted from German Macrobiotic, noun (defined by its coiner as "the art of prolonging life"), from Greek makrobiótēs "longevity, long life" (from makróbios "long-lived" —from makrós "long" + -o- -o- + -bios "having life [of the kind specified]"— + -tēs, abstract noun suffix) + German -ic -ic entry 2 — more at macro-, amphibious

Note: French macrobiotique was used by the Japanese author George Ohsawa (Nyoichi Sakurazawa, 1893-1966) in La Philosophie de la Médecine d'Extrême-Orient (1956) and later works that popularized macrobiotic diet practices. He most likely adapted the word from German Macrobiotic (in later spelling Makrobiotik), apparently originated by the German physician Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland (1762-1836) in Die Kunst das menschliche Leben zu verlängern (Jena, 1797). Hufeland defined Macrobiotic in the preface (p. vi) as "the art of prolonging life" ("die Kunst das Leben zu verlängern"), and in later editions used Makrobiotik as the title of the book, with the original title as subtitle.

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for macrobiotic

• antibiotic
• antipsychotic
• antithrombotic
• epizootic
• homoerotic
• psychoneurotic
• unpatriotic
• xenobiotic
• abiotic
• aeronautic
• apoptotic
• asymptotic

Medical Definition

macrobiotic

adjective

mac·​ro·​bi·​ot·​ic ˌmak-rō-bī-ˈät-ik, -bē- 

: of, relating to, or being a diet that consists of whole cereals and grains supplemented especially with beans and vegetables and that in its especially former more restrictive forms has been linked to nutritional deficiencies