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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Wolf spider bites are not poisonous and won't cause sores or body-wide symptoms from its venom.—
Carrie Madormo,
Health,
6 Sep. 2025
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This unconstitutional partisan politicization is poisonous to unit morale and discipline with long-term consequences for who serves and why.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Wilson and Webbon told USA TODAY that scripture provides safeguards against toxic behavior.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA Today,
9 Sep. 2025
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An alkaline compound, baking soda is a non-toxic cleaner with a coarseness that works wonders for scrubbing grime, removing difficult stains, and deodorizing stinky odors.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Moderate air quality in general is expected though areas immediately north and west of the fire could see up to unhealthy air quality.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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There is a great deal of widespread angst right now about people having unhealthy chats with AI.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 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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This is a particularly noxious form of socialism.—
Steve Chapman,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
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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
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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Cinematographer James Friend creates a purgatorial realm of disorienting angles and neon lights too sickly to be beautiful, the nightmarishness further underlined by Volker Bertelman’s thundering score.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Aug. 2025
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There are some exceptions to this guideline, like when a neighbor allows a sickly tree to decline rather than taking care of the problem.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
19 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unhealthful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhealthful. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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