as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body
after inhaling the insalubrious city smog for a month, I was happy to once again breathe in the fresh air of the country
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Recent Examples of insalubrious
Two figures, Gavin Williamson, the education secretary who has blown hot and cold over whether children can go back to school, and Robert Jenrick, the local-government minister, who is entangled in a scandal with an insalubrious party donor, look particularly dismal.
—
The Economist, 20 June 2020
The refuse rising in insalubrious piles, some taller than the pedestrians trying to avoid them, is a smelly, visceral symbol of popular outrage at the government’s plan.
—Catherine Porter, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2023
Many of the area's most insalubrious haunts are long gone, and in their place mostly restaurants, which come and go.
—Tom Page, CNN, 30 Jan. 2023
Exercise enjoys a health halo, justifying, for some of us, insalubrious habits.
—Gretchen Reynolds, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Jan. 2023
In letters sent to the regional authorities in the early 1950s and seen by The New York Times, the nuns warned about a lack of food, and the insalubrious dormitory and canteen.
—New York Times, 3 Nov. 2021
On the site of an important 19th-century water mill, in a somewhat insalubrious part of town, is a modest looking Mosque with a beautiful new artwork.
—Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2021
The Economist, 20 June 2020
The refuse rising in insalubrious piles, some taller than the pedestrians trying to avoid them, is a smelly, visceral symbol of popular outrage at the government’s plan.
—Catherine Porter, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2023
Many of the area's most insalubrious haunts are long gone, and in their place mostly restaurants, which come and go.
—Tom Page, CNN, 30 Jan. 2023
Exercise enjoys a health halo, justifying, for some of us, insalubrious habits.
—Gretchen Reynolds, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Jan. 2023
In letters sent to the regional authorities in the early 1950s and seen by The New York Times, the nuns warned about a lack of food, and the insalubrious dormitory and canteen.
—New York Times, 3 Nov. 2021
On the site of an important 19th-century water mill, in a somewhat insalubrious part of town, is a modest looking Mosque with a beautiful new artwork.
—Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insalubrious
Adjective
-
Also, maybe, Regan, the king’s poisonous middle daughter.—
Han Ong,
New Yorker,
22 June 2025
-
In addition to cyanide in her water, poisonous powder was also put in her air vents, prosecutors said.—
Kate Linderman,
Kansas City Star,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
The change comes amid concerns about fireworks causing unhealthful air.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
-
The unhealthful effects of autocracy remain robust even when accounting for economic differences and when excluding Venezuela and its collapsing health-care system.—
Thomas J. Bollyky,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Jan. 2020
Adjective
-
That’s the best way to describe how the Boys in Blue have acted as the city emblazoned on their hats and road jerseys battles Donald Trump’s toxic alphabet soup of federal agencies that have conducted immigration sweeps across Los Angeles over the past two weeks.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
21 June 2025
-
Fed with sugar and salt to create a specific pigment, these microbes act like miniature factories, brewing vibrant dyes that are transferred directly onto fabric using a fraction of the water and none of the toxic additives.—
Maeve Campbell,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
But unlike Materialists, those movies—pictures like Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth or Preston Sturges’ The Palm Beach Story—emerged in a time when Hollywood censors were keeping a close eye on movies’ ideology, determined to protect audiences from unwholesome influences.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
13 June 2025
-
By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.—
Arthur Grahame,
Outdoor Life,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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He was arrested for assault, reckless endangerment and possession of a noxious chemical — bear repellent in a clear container adorned with a picture of a bear.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
30 June 2025
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The first-term San Diego assembly member is MAGA to his marrow, bringing Donald Trump’s noxious politics and personal approach to Sacramento.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
29 June 2025
Adjective
-
Beneath several sickly banana trees sat a man in tired corduroy pants and worn blue Skechers.—
Pete McKenzie,
Harpers Magazine,
18 June 2025
-
As a sickly boy raised by two women, young Darin was smothered with affection.—
Jordan Runtagh,
People.com,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
That means overcoming interpersonal tensions, freezing conditions, dwindling rations, and unhealthy CO2 levels, among other challenges, as well as taking on a pulse-pounding manual course correction with no navigational computer.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
29 June 2025
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After more than a decade as a reviewer, Jason Bennett has an unhealthy love for rogue-lite survival games and terrible puns.—
Jason Bennett,
Arkansas Online,
29 June 2025
Adjective
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Employees were observed to only sanitize their gloved hands after touching insanitary surfaces and then resumed touching RTE food and various food contact surfaces.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
Newsweek,
12 Jan. 2025
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In a civil complaint filed Sept. 27 in federal court, authorities allege that Rizo Lopez Foods violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act at the company’s facility in Modesto by manufacturing and distributing food products that have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Insalubrious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insalubrious. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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