malnourished
adjective
mal·nour·ished
ˌmal-ˈnər-isht 
-ˈnə-risht
: supplied with less than the minimum or an unbalanced amount of the nutrients or foods essential for sound health and growth : marked by malnutrition
When it comes to certain nutrients, in fact, an estimated 80 to 90 percent of obese individuals are malnourished.—
Maria Konnikova
Maria Konnikova
especially
: undernourished sense 1
How do you help malnourished children and assure that they won't go hungry again after you leave? —Melissa Hendricks
Melissa Hendricks Patients may become malnourished from being unable to take food by mouth … —Laura Landro
Laura Landro Examples of malnourished in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This is what happens to a malnourished body.
—Pablo Robles, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
The malnourished woman ran to a neighbor’s house and said she had been restrained in the man’s basement.
—Kansas City Star, 12 Sep. 2025
Kids who are malnourished and treated.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
The organization gathered the leftover supplies—medical-examination tables, stethoscopes, gloves, measuring tapes to diagnose severely malnourished kids, fortified pastes for treating them—to restock its surviving clinics, Sherine Ibrahim, IRC’s country director in Afghanistan, told me.
—Hana Kiros, The Atlantic, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malnourished
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Pablo Robles, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
The malnourished woman ran to a neighbor’s house and said she had been restrained in the man’s basement.
—Kansas City Star, 12 Sep. 2025
Kids who are malnourished and treated.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
The organization gathered the leftover supplies—medical-examination tables, stethoscopes, gloves, measuring tapes to diagnose severely malnourished kids, fortified pastes for treating them—to restock its surviving clinics, Sherine Ibrahim, IRC’s country director in Afghanistan, told me.
—Hana Kiros, The Atlantic, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malnourished
Cite this Entry
“Malnourished.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malnourished. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
malnourished
adjective
mal·nour·ished
(ˈ)mal-ˈnər-isht
-ˈnə-risht
: poorly nourished : undernourished
Medical Definition
malnourished
adjective
mal·nour·ished
(ˈ)mal-ˈnər-isht, -ˈnə-risht
: supplied with less than the minimum or an unbalanced amount of the nutrients or foods essential for sound health and growth : marked by malnutrition
When it comes to certain nutrients, in fact, an estimated 80 to 90 percent of obese individuals are malnourished.—Maria Konnikova
Maria Konnikova
especially
: undernourished
How do you help malnourished children and assure that they won't go hungry again after you leave? —Melissa Hendricks
Melissa Hendricks Patients may become malnourished from being unable to take food by mouth … —Laura Landro
Laura Landro Love words? Need even more definitions?
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