1
as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body
health inspectors shut down several food stands that were using tainted and unwholesome meat
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in corrupt
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
despite having been raised in such unwholesome environments as a brothel and a traveling circus, singer Edith Piaf rose to international stardom
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of unwholesome
But unlike Materialists, those movies—pictures like Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth or Preston Sturges’ The Palm Beach Story—emerged in a time when Hollywood censors were keeping a close eye on movies’ ideology, determined to protect audiences from unwholesome influences.
—
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 13 June 2025
By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.
—Arthur Grahame, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2025
Like its unwholesome protagonist, the film — and the roving camera of Vladislav Opelyants, shooting in gorgeously high-contrast black-and-white — is forever on the move, creating an immersive aesthetic experience that amounts to a big pile of nothing.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2025
As for the place, its veneer of comfortable tourism doesn’t hide the air of something unwholesome, especially when female guests start randomly throwing up.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2024
In celebration of her return, everyone from comedian Melissa McCarthy, who’s playing the conniving nemesis of King Triton, to film historians, are taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary drag queen who inspired Ursula’s unwholesome ways: Divine.
—Elaina Patton, NBC News, 26 May 2023
There was something indefinably unwholesome about him.
—Ian McEwan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
This syndrome originally surfaced in 1926, when residents of Haverhill, Massachusetts drank unwholesome milk and suffered soaring temps, aching joints, and skin lesions ranging from flat, red spots to papules, pustules, and blisters—the same telltale features earlier linked to bites.
—Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2018
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 13 June 2025
By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.
—Arthur Grahame, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2025
Like its unwholesome protagonist, the film — and the roving camera of Vladislav Opelyants, shooting in gorgeously high-contrast black-and-white — is forever on the move, creating an immersive aesthetic experience that amounts to a big pile of nothing.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2025
As for the place, its veneer of comfortable tourism doesn’t hide the air of something unwholesome, especially when female guests start randomly throwing up.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2024
In celebration of her return, everyone from comedian Melissa McCarthy, who’s playing the conniving nemesis of King Triton, to film historians, are taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary drag queen who inspired Ursula’s unwholesome ways: Divine.
—Elaina Patton, NBC News, 26 May 2023
There was something indefinably unwholesome about him.
—Ian McEwan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
This syndrome originally surfaced in 1926, when residents of Haverhill, Massachusetts drank unwholesome milk and suffered soaring temps, aching joints, and skin lesions ranging from flat, red spots to papules, pustules, and blisters—the same telltale features earlier linked to bites.
—Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwholesome
Adjective
-
For all their sophistication—transforming a poisonous root and its leaves into a whole range of delicacies is no mean feat—for years such dishes were seen by the city’s elite as the food of poverty.—
Michael Snyder,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
-
By appointing a man who was deeply unpopular with fans by the end of his reign so recently, though, Wolves would have been condemning him and his players to working in a poisonous environment from day one.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Which makes Shelley Joseph today’s poster gal for the corrupt double standards in the Massachusetts legal system.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Trump is running the most brazenly corrupt administration in modern history.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The change comes amid concerns about fireworks causing unhealthful air.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
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Health professionals encourage people to use lean cuts of meat because most of the fat in animal products is unhealthful saturated fat, which can raise the risk of heart disease and cancer.—
Bethany Thayer,
Detroit Free Press,
22 June 2024
Adjective
-
Advertisement Restoring degraded land offers similar payoffs.—
Kaveh Zahedi,
Time,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Previous studies relied on a process known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which amplifies small or degraded fragments of DNA, allowing scientists to analyze genetic material even from old or damaged organic matter.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
No politician will want to be associated with a team that is now toxic.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 Nov. 2025
-
King invented The Network at a time when people were still processing the toxic relationship between mass entertainment and mind control, and while the thrust of his story may not have aged a day, the medium is the message, and that medium has changed.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Raimondo Orsi had already gone back to Argentina to look after his sick mother, and Luis Monti had retired.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Air traffic controllers tasked with managing aircraft movements on runways and in the skies are working without pay during the shutdown, leading to more controllers calling in sick and triggering short staff warnings from the FAA.—
Alysa Guffey,
IndyStar,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
But not all foods that fit the definition of ultra-processed are unhealthy, says Julia Wolfson, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.—
Maria Godoy,
NPR,
10 Nov. 2025
-
The findings contrast with the traditional assumption that coffee promotes unhealthy heart rhythms, according to the study.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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In confidential reports submitted to NASA, flight crews describe being overwhelmed by noxious fumes — struggling to stay conscious, land planes safely, or simply breathe — part of a larger body of evidence suggesting that contaminated cabin air is a recurring threat.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Here, much to the amazement of onlookers, sacrificial animals such as bulls would drop dead after breathing in noxious carbon dioxide fumes swirling up from below.—
Barry Neild,
CNN Money,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unwholesome.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwholesome. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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