1
as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body
health inspectors shut down several food stands that were using tainted and unwholesome meat
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2
as in corrupt
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
despite having been raised in such unwholesome environments as a brothel and a traveling circus, singer Edith Piaf rose to international stardom
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Recent Examples of unwholesome
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
By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.
—Arthur Grahame, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2025
Like its unwholesome protagonist, the film — and the roving camera of Vladislav Opelyants, shooting in gorgeously high-contrast black-and-white — is forever on the move, creating an immersive aesthetic experience that amounts to a big pile of nothing.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2025
As for the place, its veneer of comfortable tourism doesn’t hide the air of something unwholesome, especially when female guests start randomly throwing up.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2024
In celebration of her return, everyone from comedian Melissa McCarthy, who’s playing the conniving nemesis of King Triton, to film historians, are taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary drag queen who inspired Ursula’s unwholesome ways: Divine.
—Elaina Patton, NBC News, 26 May 2023
There was something indefinably unwholesome about him.
—Ian McEwan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
This syndrome originally surfaced in 1926, when residents of Haverhill, Massachusetts drank unwholesome milk and suffered soaring temps, aching joints, and skin lesions ranging from flat, red spots to papules, pustules, and blisters—the same telltale features earlier linked to bites.
—Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2018
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 13 June 2025
By mid-afternoon the weather turned downright unwholesome.
—Arthur Grahame, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2025
Like its unwholesome protagonist, the film — and the roving camera of Vladislav Opelyants, shooting in gorgeously high-contrast black-and-white — is forever on the move, creating an immersive aesthetic experience that amounts to a big pile of nothing.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2025
As for the place, its veneer of comfortable tourism doesn’t hide the air of something unwholesome, especially when female guests start randomly throwing up.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2024
In celebration of her return, everyone from comedian Melissa McCarthy, who’s playing the conniving nemesis of King Triton, to film historians, are taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary drag queen who inspired Ursula’s unwholesome ways: Divine.
—Elaina Patton, NBC News, 26 May 2023
There was something indefinably unwholesome about him.
—Ian McEwan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
This syndrome originally surfaced in 1926, when residents of Haverhill, Massachusetts drank unwholesome milk and suffered soaring temps, aching joints, and skin lesions ranging from flat, red spots to papules, pustules, and blisters—the same telltale features earlier linked to bites.
—Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwholesome
Adjective
-
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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The technology included corrupt automatic shuffling machines that read cards and predicted which player had the best hand.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Porter’s story was viewed largely as a cautionary tale of a corrupt athlete… until this week, when the FBI dropped news of a much wider NBA betting scandal that shed light on Porter’s possible motivations.—
Eben Novy-Williams,
Sportico.com,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The change comes amid concerns about fireworks causing unhealthful air.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
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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
Adjective
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For Capone, this high precedence of pinworm was incredibly surprising, given that the samples were over 1,000 years old and the DNA would have been highly degraded over such a long period of time.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
22 Oct. 2025
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Amazon’s own websites, Prime Video, and Alexa experienced degraded service.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 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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The Star began writing about the concerns at Warren Hills in March, detailing how for years that teachers, staff and parents have been worried that something at the school may be making teachers and staff sick.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
23 Oct. 2025
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Although Hahne's daughter lived close enough to remain at home, Hahne made connections with families staying in the Ronald McDonald House while their sick children received care from Children's Hospital.—
Angelika Ytuarte,
jsonline.com,
23 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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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
Cite this Entry
“Unwholesome.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwholesome. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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