wholesome

[ hohl-suhm ]

adjective

1. conducive to moral or general well-being; salutary; beneficial:

   wholesome recreation;

   wholesome environment.

   Synonyms: good, helpful

2. conducive to bodily health; healthful; salubrious:

   wholesome food;

   wholesome air;

   wholesome exercise.

   Synonyms: nutritious, nourishing

3. suggestive of physical or moral health, especially in appearance.
4. healthy or sound.

wholesome

/ ˈhəʊlsəm /

adjective

1. conducive to health or physical wellbeing
2. conducive to moral wellbeing
3. characteristic or suggestive of health or wellbeing, esp in appearance

Derived Forms

• ˈwholesomely, adverb
• ˈwholesomeness, noun

Other Words From

• wholesome·ly adverb
• wholesome·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wholesome¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English ho(o)lsom; equivalent to whole + -some ¹; cognate with Old High German heilsam, Old Norse heilsamr

Word History and Origins

Origin of wholesome¹

C12: from whole (healthy) + -some ¹; related to German heilsam healing

Synonym Study

See healthy.

Example Sentences

What people want right now is content they can relax around, so our content is creeping more wholesome and purely enjoyable.

From Digiday

Bees are full of wholesome glory and hard work rewarded, but they are also part of what Pawan Dhingra, a sociologist and professor of American Studies at Amherst College, describes as the nation’s hyper-education ecosystem.

From Time

What used to be a controversial device that only the military use for intelligence gathering has gone mainstream, and for far more wholesome uses.

From Popular-Science

Their inevitable romance is sweet and warm, a wholesome tonic for cynics and anyone who is, or feels, 25 going on 80.

From Washington Post

To old memories and trends that remind me of what was good and wholesome, sometimes to a fault.

From The Daily Beast

But religious tolerance would be a wholesome goodie for every boy and girl.

From The Daily Beast

Austin Mahone, the teenage pop star with a more wholesome image than his predecessor Justin Bieber wants to tell you his story.

From The Daily Beast

They did "wholesome things like hiking and hanging out at home."

From The Daily Beast

"Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food," he declared on July 9, 1984.

From The Daily Beast

We struggle to think of them as unhealthy, because they seem so pure, so wholesome, so stocked with goodness.

From The Daily Beast

There was one honest dog in that company, but the two-legged specimen was a little "too sweet to be wholesome."

From Project Gutenberg

And the familiar scenery, together with the wholesome exercise of sculling, acted as a tonic to his nerves.

From Project Gutenberg

She had had a bitter experience of what Mrs. Grundy could say, and felt a wholesome dread of that slanderous individual.

From Project Gutenberg

Periods of rest may be made profitable by having on hand as much wholesome literature as you are able to secure.

From Project Gutenberg

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• healthful
• hygienic
• pure