as in starving
not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food; poorly nourished
The malnourished children were slowly nursed back to health.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
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 malnourished
But for every malnourished child receiving treatment, there are many more who cannot get help.
—
ABC News, 18 Feb. 2026
First responders noticed that the child seemed malnourished and had bruising on his body, police said.
—Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
Those children were severely malnourished and underweight, according to the district attorney’s office, weighing 48 and 50 pounds, respectively, when they were removed from Helton's home.
—Ricardo Delgado, San Antonio Express-News, 6 Feb. 2026
It will be devoured by the 49ers Faithful’s malnourished soul that has craved another championship for 31 years.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malnourished
ABC News, 18 Feb. 2026
First responders noticed that the child seemed malnourished and had bruising on his body, police said.
—Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
Those children were severely malnourished and underweight, according to the district attorney’s office, weighing 48 and 50 pounds, respectively, when they were removed from Helton's home.
—Ricardo Delgado, San Antonio Express-News, 6 Feb. 2026
It will be devoured by the 49ers Faithful’s malnourished soul that has craved another championship for 31 years.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malnourished
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malnourished
Adjective
-
And photos and videos after the storm showed undernourished Cubans, men, women and children dressed in rags and people barely managing in makeshift homes.—
David Goodhue
March 16,
Miami Herald,
17 Mar. 2026
-
The kid appeared undernourished and wearing a torn Miami Heat T-shirt.—
David Dickstein,
Oc Register,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Here’s how Blum describes the process of turning Schneider into a company able to move at the speed of its energy-hungry customers.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The nod to Star Wars is intentional, and the landscape does seem like a new frontier—representing not just Meta’s stratospheric AI ambitions, but the financial, energy-hungry reality of building the infrastructure that underpins the AI boom.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Malnourished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malnourished. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
