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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Gastroenteritis is a good reason to refrain from consuming cocaine, various heavy metals or poisonous mushrooms.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025
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Then his heart beat its last, and the poisonous moth embraced him.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
People.com,
24 July 2025
Adjective
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Evidence, while not conclusive, suggested the babies died from breathing in toxic black mold contaminating their homes due to water leaks.—
Matt Fuchs,
Time,
28 July 2025
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But too much of one specific type of algae can be toxic, causing a harmful algal bloom, also sometimes known as a red tide.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
26 July 2025
Adjective
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An unhealthy person who starts eating Brussels sprouts and going to Planet Fitness can really turn the oven down.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
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Could aid in weight management: Since seed oils are made from healthier fats, using them in place of unhealthy fats may help prevent or reduce fat, particularly belly fat or visceral fat, which is harmful to the heart.—
Lauren O'Connor,
Health,
4 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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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
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Are there noxious chemical smells coming from the bed?—
Julia Forbes,
Wired News,
22 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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There are so many stereotypes and stigmas about what a cancer patient looks like—bald, weak, sickly.—
Newsweek Staff,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 May 2025
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The lunchtime sun was bright, tinting everything in a sickly golden tone.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unhealthful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhealthful. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
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