UNWHOLESOME Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

unwholesome

adjective

ˌən-ˈhōl-səm

Definition of unwholesome

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of unwholesome Their jail is strange and unwholesome. — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026 Grievous bodily harm, nonconsensual drugging, murder, yes…still, thank god there’s nothing unwholesome here, like say a man in a dress. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026 The public, however, knew what to expect from this unwholesome mixture of politics and celebrity and didn’t tune in. — Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwholesome

Adjective

With the throne disengaged from governance, petitions and reports from officials piled up unread, crucial state posts went unfilled, and the imperial bureaucracy splintered amid poisonous factional infighting.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026
With this potential even more poisonous investments in the bloated and indebted Paramount behemoth, there’s even more reason to reject it.

— Abigail Disney, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of poisonous

Adjective

The most egregious perpetrators of fraud in the industry were corrupt doctors who were paid by patients to send insurance companies medical examination reports that omitted unfavorable findings.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026
That unaffordability, Talarico argued at the nighttime rally in Texas that was packed with younger voters, is because billionaires and corrupt politicians have rigged the system.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of corrupt

Adjective

Warnings of unhealthful air quality remained in effect Saturday across a wide swath of the United States due to smoke from Canadian wildfires that has engulfed the Northeast in haze for days.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2026
The soil may contain pathogens, pesticides and other unhealthful things.

— Joan Morris, Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2026

Definition of unhealthful

Adjective

Design choices previously thought to boost power, such as widening the gap between electrodes, actually degraded performance under true operating conditions.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2026
Initially, Pike’s attorneys and several death penalty experts raised the possibility that the drugs may have been too old or degraded to work as intended.

— Keri Blakinger, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of degraded

Adjective

All of this means a highly unpredictable world is the brain’s worst nightmare—and the uncertainty that results can quickly become toxic.

— Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
The arrival of hunter-killer chemistry suggests this persistent toxic legacy might finally be coming to an end.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of toxic

Adjective

The goats’ dire situation first came to light when a former dairy employee raised concerns after witnessing emaciated and sick animals on the property, the former employee told the Idaho Statesman last year.

— Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 16 Oct. 2026
What’s interesting is that Conan Doyle got sick of writing Sherlock Holmes.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of sick

Adjective

To be sure, practicing a zest for life can be harder for those who have physical illness and pain and those who engage in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors.

— Joan M. Cook, Time, 17 Oct. 2026
Air quality in Singapore remained unhealthy on Thursday, as smoke from widespread fires in Indonesia's Kalimantan region continued to drift toward the city-state, according to the National Environment Agency.

— Jenny Lee,Zechariah Chan, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of unhealthy

Adjective

Yakuza organized ultra-nationalist outfits like the National Essence Society, which aimed to crush such noxious foreign influences as Marxism.

— Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Officers punched him, covered his face, poured a noxious liquid over him and threatened him with further abuse.

— Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of noxious

Browse Nearby Words

unwellness

unwholesome

unwieldy

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Unwholesome.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwholesome. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of unwholesome

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

jilt

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes