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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

unwholesome en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˌənˈhoʊlsəm/ (General-American)
  • /ˌənˈhəʊlsəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English unholsom; equivalent to un- + wholesome.

Meanings

  1. Not wholesome; unfavorable to health; unhealthful.
    • unwholesome air, or food
    • Caliban: As wicked dewe, as ere my mother bruſh'd / With Rauens feather from vnwholeſome Fen / Drop on you both : A Southweſt blow on yee, / And bliſter you all ore. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 4:
    • Alas! he mastered not his destiny: I have said before, his ashes are in yonder urn. A few unwholesome dews on a summer night were mightier than all his science. 1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty, 1833, The Enchantress, page 17:
  2. Not sound; tainted; defective.
    • There was something indefinably unwholesome about him. Something lean and snakelike. 2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 184:
  3. Indicating unsound health; characteristic of or suggesting an unsound condition, physical or mental; repulsive; offensive.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more unwholesome Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most unwholesome Degree=Sup lexicographic

Antonyms

wholesome

Deriveds

unwholesomely · unwholesomeness

Translations (38)

hu kártékony (not wholesome) · fr insalubre (not wholesome) · hu mérges (not wholesome) · fo ósunnur (not wholesome) · ru нездоровый (not wholesome) · bg нездравословен (not wholesome) · eo nesalubra (not wholesome) · hu erkölcstelen (corrupt morally) · hu káros (not wholesome) · hu ártalmas (corrupt morally) · hu veszedelmes (corrupt morally) · it sfavorevole (not wholesome) · hu bomlasztó (corrupt morally) · gv neufollan (not wholesome) · ro insalubru (not wholesome) · sga inanfollán (not wholesome) · hu egészségtelen (not wholesome) · hu kártékony (corrupt morally) · ru вре́дный (not wholesome) · hu mérgező (corrupt morally) · hu romboló (corrupt morally) · ga anfholláin (not wholesome) · it malsano (not wholesome) · gv neuslayntoil (not wholesome) · de ungesund (not wholesome) · sga anḟolláin (not wholesome) · it corrotto (corrupt morally) · ro nociv (not wholesome) · he חולני (not wholesome) · hu ártalmas (not wholesome) · la morbidus (not wholesome) · it insalubre (not wholesome) · fr malsain (not wholesome) · hu romlott (corrupt morally) · ro nesănătos (not wholesome) · hu mérgező (not wholesome) · fr nocif (not wholesome) · de unheilsam (not wholesome)