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Synonym Chooser

How is the word healthy distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of healthy are hale, robust, sound, well, and wholesome. While all these words mean "enjoying or indicative of good health," healthy implies full strength and vigor as well as freedom from signs of disease.

a healthy family

Where would hale be a reasonable alternative to healthy?

While in some cases nearly identical to healthy, hale applies particularly to robustness in old age.

still hale at the age of eighty

When is robust a more appropriate choice than healthy?

While the synonyms robust and healthy are close in meaning, robust implies the opposite of all that is delicate or sickly.

a lively, robust little boy

When might sound be a better fit than healthy?

Although the words sound and healthy have much in common, sound emphasizes the absence of disease, weakness, or malfunction.

a sound heart

When would well be a good substitute for healthy?

The words well and healthy can be used in similar contexts, but well implies merely freedom from disease or illness.

she has never been a well person

In what contexts can wholesome take the place of healthy?

The meanings of wholesome and healthy largely overlap; however, wholesome implies appearance and behavior indicating soundness and balance.

a face with a wholesome glow

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of healthy Sara Kuburic, a mental health professional known online as the millennial therapist, broke down the ins and outs of healthy (and unhealthy) soft-launching in a previous column for USA TODAY. Charles Trepany, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025 From farmers and engineers to food safety specialists and packaging workers, Taylor Farms employs thousands who share a passion for producing fresh, healthy food. William Jones, Freep.com, 27 Oct. 2025 Adopting a healthy lifestyle, including diet, exercise, sleep, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding sugar, eliminating tobacco, and curbing or skipping alcoholic beverages altogether, play a role in reducing early breast cancer recurrence. Marnie Goodfriend, Flow Space, 27 Oct. 2025 These ingredients can work together to soothe discomfort and encourage a healthy digestive system. Lana Barhum, Verywell Health, 27 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for healthy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for healthy
Adjective
  • Its jet-drive propulsion system, when deployed, creates thrust by accelerating well fluids via an impeller unit, which moves the probe through the wellbore.
    Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Across the country—and especially in the South—plans are well in the works for Thanksgiving meals that will both satisfy and delight guests.
    Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Non-perishable items or foods that last a long time in the fridge can be good options.
    Merve Ceylan, Health, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The baby, who initially made good progress after the surgery, died 20 days later.
    Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • If Pauli’s theory of neutrinos were correct, then each of these sets of reactions, both fission and fusion, would emit neutrinos each with a substantial amount of energy (in the ~MeV, or mega-electron-volt, range) to them.
    Big Think, Big Think, 28 Oct. 2025
  • And few will qualify for the New Jersey family’s tutoring job, as the listing details some substantial requirements.
    Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In Pompeii, still in shambles centuries after the volcanic destruction of Mount Vesuvius, Longo founded what would become the Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary, creating the foundations of what would become Pompeii’s rejuvenation as a thriving community.
    Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
  • In addition to her professional ambitions, Mallory also had a thriving social life and was dating Anthony Cook.
    Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Red Seat Ventures, which acts as Tubi Media Group’s in-house creator services company, has a robust business around true crime, with podcasts from Chris Hansen (of To Catch a Predator fame) and Nancy Grace among its clients.
    Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Concerns have also been raised about the safety and responsibility of keeping parks open without having a robust number of employees available to conduct critical services.
    The NPR Network, NPR, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Sometimes puddings can be surprisingly healthful and satisfying.
    Bethany Thayer, Freep.com, 25 Oct. 2025
  • This isn’t healthful in-person power play, which demands from its participants certain sensitivities, or at least the social acumen to leave one’s home and look another person in the eye.
    Daniel Kolitz, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Hans is engaged to a fellow performer, but Cleopatra has her eyes on Hans’s sizable inheritance.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The Indie Gaming Boom and Democratization of Development Over the past several years, there has been a sizable uptick in the quantity and quality of independent gaming ventures.
    Jason Phillips, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Indeed, the entire world is a better, safer, healthier and more prosperous place when the United States leads in biotechnology.
    Sen. Todd Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
  • There will be less stability and fewer allies within the West, investments abroad will be less safe, and the entire West will be less prosperous.
    DP Opinion, Denver Post, 23 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Healthy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/healthy. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on healthy

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