healthy

English Online Dictionary. What means healthy‎? What does healthy mean?

English

Etymology

From health +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛl.θi/
• Rhymes: -ɛlθi

Adjective

healthy (comparative healthier or more healthy, superlative healthiest or most healthy)

1. Enjoying good health; free from disease or disorder.

   Synonyms: well, hale, fit

   Antonym: unhealthy
2. Conducive to health.

   Synonyms: healthful, wholesome, nourishing

   Antonym: unhealthy
3. Evincing health.

4. (figuratively) Significant, hefty; beneficial.

Usage notes

When a clearer distinction between the senses is required, the use of healthy may be reserved for describing the state of the object, while healthful may be used to describe its ability to impart health to the recipient. Vegetables in good condition are both healthy (i.e., not rotten or diseased) and healthful (i.e., they improve the eaters' health, compared to eating junk food). By contrast, a poisonous plant can be healthy, but it is not healthful to eat it. However, in informal speech, this distinction is not observed.

Derived terms

Related terms

• heal
• healing
• whole

Translations

Further reading

• “healthy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “healthy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.