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 change comes amid concerns about fireworks causing unhealthful air.
—
Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
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 unhealthful effects of autocracy remain robust even when accounting for economic differences and when excluding Venezuela and its collapsing health-care system.
—Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 30 Jan. 2020
See All Example Sentences for unhealthful
Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
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 unhealthful effects of autocracy remain robust even when accounting for economic differences and when excluding Venezuela and its collapsing health-care system.
—Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 30 Jan. 2020
See All Example Sentences for unhealthful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unhealthful
Adjective
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Nothing was more freeing than finally realizing how poisonous these people are.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
21 Oct. 2025
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The scorpion, who will sting with their poisonous venom when hurt, is extremely intuitive and highly aware of their surroundings.—
Lisa Stardust,
Refinery29,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Many people are most familiar with ginkgo biloba dietary supplements; those are derived from the non-toxic leaves, not the seeds.—
Ariane Lange,
Sacbee.com,
28 Oct. 2025
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Much of this year’s online discourse has grown particularly toxic, as many WNBA fans ruthlessly tear down players in the name of their faves, with many of these players experiencing a torrent of online and verbal abuse.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Sara Kuburic, a mental health professional known online as the millennial therapist, broke down the ins and outs of healthy (and unhealthy) soft-launching in a previous column for USA TODAY.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
27 Oct. 2025
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But this isn’t to say pickles themselves are inherently unhealthy.—
Caroline Tien,
SELF,
24 Oct. 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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Delivering drugs to the brain The blood-brain barrier is evolution’s exquisite solution to keeping noxious substances away from this most critical organ.—
Richard J. Price,
The Conversation,
15 Oct. 2025
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So truly noxious fart sprays often contain secret ingredient blends that are difficult to evaluate.—
Nate Anderson,
ArsTechnica,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Many of the area's most insalubrious haunts are long gone, and in their place mostly restaurants, which come and go.—
Tom Page,
CNN,
30 Jan. 2023
Adjective
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Her parents could have believed their sickly child had died and buried her according to local customs.—
Aishwarya S. Iyer,
CNN Money,
16 Oct. 2025
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Only Abi, the young nanny, can make the sickly girl smile.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unhealthful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhealthful. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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