as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body
the unhealthful level of smog in the city
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Recent Examples of unhealthful
The grades are based on the number of days a county’s air reaches unhealthful levels when measuring ozone and particle pollution.
—
Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2024
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
With fire comes unhealthful smoke, which also threatens air quality for much of the U.S.
Wildfire smoke blankets much of the East
Many of the areas experiencing wildfire smoke will see moderate air quality for the next several days, according to the U.S. Air Quality Index.
—Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY, 21 June 2024
The map is color-coded to indicate whether the air is good, unhealthful or hazardous.
—Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for unhealthful
Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2024
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
With fire comes unhealthful smoke, which also threatens air quality for much of the U.S.
Wildfire smoke blankets much of the East
Many of the areas experiencing wildfire smoke will see moderate air quality for the next several days, according to the U.S. Air Quality Index.
—Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY, 21 June 2024
The map is color-coded to indicate whether the air is good, unhealthful or hazardous.
—Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for unhealthful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unhealthful
Adjective
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If touched, the toad’s poisonous glands emit toxins that can be rapidly absorbed in your dog’s bloodstream and kill her quickly.—
Lois K. Solomon,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Aug. 2025
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While every season is different depending on the location, some of the past challenges have included walking across a tightrope over a cliff, rescuing themselves from a sinking car and invading a crate filled with poisonous gases and chemicals.—
Caroline Blair,
People.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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This is significant because melittin alone is highly toxic and can damage healthy tissues if not carefully controlled.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Aug. 2025
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The dangers of breathing wildfire smoke Wildfires burn at extremely high temperatures, which makes their ash more toxic than other pollution, such as car exhaust.—
Alejandra Borunda,
NPR,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Borgman chronicles how the show focused on entertainment over health and how contestants were belittled and encouraged to follow unhealthy weight loss methods, including consuming caffeine pills.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
15 Aug. 2025
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In particular, lawsuits have alleged that child users with developmental disabilities and mental health issues have formed unhealthy attachments to chatbots that have influenced the children to become violent, begin self-harming, or, in one disturbing case, die by suicide.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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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
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By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.—
Arthur Grahame,
Outdoor Life,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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The activists worry the line will harm birds and that construction and maintenance crews driving through the transmission line corridor will carry in noxious weeds and invasive species.—
Tony Schick,
ProPublica,
14 Aug. 2025
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After a final sequence of emergences and contractions, the ciliate eventually got fed up, pulled up stakes and swam away, presumably looking for a less noxious place to settle down.—
Claire L. Evans,
Quanta Magazine,
30 July 2025
Adjective
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Two figures, Gavin Williamson, the education secretary who has blown hot and cold over whether children can go back to school, and Robert Jenrick, the local-government minister, who is entangled in a scandal with an insalubrious party donor, look particularly dismal.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
20 June 2020
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The refuse rising in insalubrious piles, some taller than the pedestrians trying to avoid them, is a smelly, visceral symbol of popular outrage at the government’s plan.—
Catherine Porter,
New York Times,
15 Mar. 2023
Adjective
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Once infected, the plant will become sickly and die within 3-5 years.—
Laura Simpson,
Oc Register,
8 Aug. 2025
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In inspecting the property, the officers found a sickly Honey infested with lice.—
Caelyn Pender,
Mercury News,
8 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unhealthful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhealthful. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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