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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Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless poisonous gas that at high levels can cause loss of consciousness and death.—
Alexandra Koch,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
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Kirk recognized that this crude conspiracism was poisonous to his project of popularizing the conservative cause.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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People can experience stomach cramping, nausea, diarrhea or vomiting within 24 hours after ingesting a toxic mushroom and the situation can quickly deteriorate after that, experts say.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
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Each one is an artifact of her toxic relationship with her town.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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How to stop limerence Of course, recognizing that an obsessive attachment is unhealthy usually isn’t enough to make strong feelings disappear.—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
6 Feb. 2026
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State troopers also found numerous live animals in a malnourished and unhealthy condition.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
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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What used to look like freedom now looks like a noxious lack of boundaries.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
31 Jan. 2026
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The canister flooded the family’s vehicle with noxious gas.—
Hannah Fingerhut,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2026
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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Saccharine is more polished in its technical aspects than in its storytelling, from the queasy visuals (Sarroff shot Relic, as well as both Smile movies) and sickly lighting to composer Hannah Peel’s eerie synths to some impressively gnarly gore.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Feb. 2026
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The 89-minute running time doesn’t allow much exposition, and in fact the opening sequence shows a veterinarian coming to treat a sickly Ben before having his face viciously torn off.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unhealthful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhealthful. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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