salutary

[sal-yuh-ter-ee]

adjective

1. favorable to or promoting health; healthful.

   Synonyms: salubrious

2. promoting or conducive to some beneficial purpose; wholesome.

salutary

/ -trɪ, ˈsæljʊtərɪ /

adjective

1. promoting or intended to promote an improvement or beneficial effect

   a salutary warning

2. promoting or intended to promote health

Other Word Forms

• salutarily adverb
• salutariness noun
• nonsalutarily adverb
• nonsalutarilyness noun
• nonsalutariness noun
• nonsalutary adjective
• unsalutary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of salutary¹

First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin salūt(āris) ( salūt- (stem of salūs ) “health” + -āris -ar ¹ ) + -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of salutary¹

C15: from Latin salūtāris wholesome, from salūs safety

Synonym Study

See healthy.

Example Sentences

Gibbon, no democrat, spent much of his time reading voraciously and carried some English biases and feuds into his writing, but he illuminated Augustus’ strategies in ways that America’s framers found sobering, cautionary and salutary.

From Salon

Finally, the Espionage Act is a strict liability law, meaning that a defendant’s intentions — whether salutary, malevolent, purely selfish or some combination thereof — are entirely irrelevant.

From Salon

“I do think that, ultimately, it’s a salutary thing,” she says of the entertainment industry’s newfound race consciousness.

From Los Angeles Times

Additionally, the salutary bipartisan reform of the Electoral Count Act took away the more pernicious avenues to corrupting the election results, and we are more aware of what bad actors might try to do.

From Salon

We are better prepared now, in part through a salutary reform of the Electoral Count Act.

From Salon

Related Words

• healthful