malnourished

Definition of malnourishednext
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 Packets of fortified peanut paste that cost less than a dollar each can bring a malnourished child back from the brink of death within weeks. — ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026 Officers initially discovered more than 30 cats and kittens living in unsafe conditions aboard the vessel, with many appearing frightened and malnourished. — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 13 Aug. 2026 Roughly speaking, there are three ways an older person could become malnourished, with the inability to afford food as the most obvious one, Lee said. — Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 9 Aug. 2026 The medical examiner ruled the boy died by homicide, noting he was malnourished and dehydrated. — Alice Gainer, CBS News, 30 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for malnourished
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malnourished
Adjective
  • The risk of a bad outcome is higher for people who are undernourished and unable to access supportive medical care.
    — Kathryn H. Jacobsen, The Conversation, 21 Aug. 2026
  • For the first time, the continent has overtaken Asia as the region with the largest number of hungry people, and nearly 60% of the world’s chronically undernourished people could live there by 2030.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 July 2026
Adjective
  • Parched fields force hydroponic growers, vegetable farmers and fruit producers to halt harvests, sell off underfed livestock at rock-bottom prices and even return to mechanic jobs to survive.
    — Dánica Coto, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • What began as a niche repertory experiment now spans nearly 100 theaters across 73 cities and eight countries, suggesting the Cinematheque’s gleefully nihilistic concept has tapped into a seriously underfed audience.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 4 May 2026
Adjective
  • The chips are power-hungry (a ChatGPT AI query consumes about ten times as much energy as a normal Google search) and also generate a lot of heat, which requires cooling systems.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 27 Sep. 2026
  • While global coal demand is plateauing, energy-hungry Southeast Asia has been trending in the opposite direction.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Malnourished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malnourished. Accessed 30 Sep. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster