as in starving
not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food; poorly nourished
The malnourished children were slowly nursed back to health.
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Recent Examples of malnourished
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
Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months.
—Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malnourished
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
Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months.
—Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malnourished
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malnourished
Adjective
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Factors like immune health and body fat play a role; if someone is already undernourished, their health will deteriorate quickly, after a few days without food.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
31 July 2025
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Sticking with the example of hunger, the UN’s target number 2 out of 17, the inception of the Sustainable Development Goals came at a time when progress on the topic was good and only 552 million people in the world were estimated to be undernourished in 2014, down from 789 million in 2005.—
Katharina Buchholz,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
Adjective
-
Always keep a stash of instant ramyun or late-night snacks; you’re bound to get hungry again later.—
Irene Yoo
September 26,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
-
The Blue Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since 2013, and the program is hungry to get back in the dance.—
Charles Baggarly,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malnourished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malnourished. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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