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
In recent days, NBC News and CNN both ran stories with shocking visuals of malnourished children, along with numerous segments about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and Israel’s restriction of aid coming into the area.
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Max Tani, semafor.com, 1 Aug. 2025
Gaza health officials say severely malnourished children have died.
—Samuel Granados, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2025
Gut-wrenching images have emerged of malnourished children suffering amid the lack of food and other aid in Gaza.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 30 July 2025
Now, Sanford Burnham Prebys scientists are seeking to use probiotics to deliver the benefits of Bifidobacterium to malnourished babies.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for malnourished
Max Tani, semafor.com, 1 Aug. 2025
Gaza health officials say severely malnourished children have died.
—Samuel Granados, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2025
Gut-wrenching images have emerged of malnourished children suffering amid the lack of food and other aid in Gaza.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 30 July 2025
Now, Sanford Burnham Prebys scientists are seeking to use probiotics to deliver the benefits of Bifidobacterium to malnourished babies.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 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
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What they’re really known for, though, is their grass-fed, local beef burgers and hearty portions—so make sure to come hungry.—
Angela Lian,
Travel + Leisure,
15 Aug. 2025
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What hungry kids really need is better politicians, served up with a side of common sense and a dash of compassion.—
Pat Beall,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malnourished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malnourished. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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