Synonyms of salutary

salutary

adjective

ˈsal-yə-ˌter-ē 

1

as in beneficial

promoting or contributing to personal or social well-being

the low interest rates should have a salutary effect on business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beneficial
• favorable
• helpful
• good
• profitable
• satisfying
• advantageous
• beneficent
• desirable
• friendly
• kindly
• benignant
• gratifying
• benefic
• rewarding
• propitious
• promising
• lucrative
• healthful
• advisable
• auspicious
• healthy
• wholesome
• salubrious
• remunerative
• constructive
• supportive
• gainful
• ameliorative
• salutiferous
• amelioratory
• bettering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bad
• unfavorable
• disadvantageous
• unprofitable
• unfriendly
• unhelpful
• injurious
• harmful
• deleterious
• damaging
• insalubrious

2

as in healthy

good for the health

increasing scientific evidence that a glass of wine a day is quite salutary

Synonyms & Similar Words

• healthy
• good
• medicinal
• healthful
• salubrious
• nutritional
• wholesome
• restorative
• tonic
• sanative
• refreshing
• useful
• remedial
• curative
• corrective
• advantageous
• salutiferous
• rehabilitative
• sanitary
• recuperative
• hygienic
• alleviative
• antiseptic
• clean
• nourishing
• rejuvenating
• nutritious
• aseptic
• rejuvenescent
• nontoxic
• nonpoisonous

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• harmful
• injurious
• pernicious
• noxious
• deleterious
• unwholesome
• damaging
• unhealthy
• toxic
• unhealthful
• infectious
• poisonous
• insalubrious
• sickening
• insanitary
• unsanitary
• unhygienic

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective salutary contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of salutary are healthful, salubrious, and wholesome. While all these words mean "favorable to the health of mind or body," salutary describes something corrective or beneficially effective, even though it may in itself be unpleasant.

a salutary warning that resulted in increased production

When could healthful be used to replace salutary?

The synonyms healthful and salutary are sometimes interchangeable, but healthful implies a positive contribution to a healthy condition.

a healthful diet

When might salubrious be a better fit than salutary?

While in some cases nearly identical to salutary, salubrious applies chiefly to the helpful effects of climate or air.

cool and salubrious weather

In what contexts can wholesome take the place of salutary?

The words wholesome and salutary can be used in similar contexts, but wholesome applies to what benefits, builds up, or sustains physically, mentally, or spiritually.

wholesome foods

the movie is wholesome family entertainment

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of salutary

But whether permanency has a salutary effect on the program is an important question that will be answered in the next couple of years, Brett Theodos of the Urban Institute said. — Marie Sapirie, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2026

The most salutary was America’s Field Trip, a competition of a familiar kind, in which students between third and twelfth grade from across the states and territories submit drawings, prose, and essays. — Christopher Hooks, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026

Bart argues that such promotion has a salutary social function, reaching people in underserved communities who might not otherwise be aware that they are entitled to aggressive, contingency-fee advocacy. — Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

The outlines of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 are already seared into the American psyche, but this spellbinding book adds fascinating texture and provides a salutary warning for policymakers today. — Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025