wholesome

wholesome

English

Alternative forms

• holesom, holesome, wholsome (obsolete)

Etymology

From earlier holesome, from Middle English holsom, holsum, helsum, halsum, from Old English *hālsum, *hǣlsum, from Proto-West Germanic *hailasam, from Proto-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole +‎ -some. Cognate with Saterland Frisian heelsoam, Dutch heilzaam, German Low German heelsaam, German heilsam, Icelandic heilsamur, Norwegian Nynorsk helsesam, Swedish hälsosam (“wholesome”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhol.səm/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

wholesome (comparative more wholesome or wholesomer, superlative most wholesome or wholesomest)

1. Promoting good physical health and well-being.
   • c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii], page 223, column 2:

     I prethee go, and get me ſome repaſt,
     I care not what, ſo it be holſome foode.

2. Promoting moral and mental well-being.
   • 1750, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music), “Theodora”‎:

     Though hard, my friends, yet wholesome are the truths, taught in affliction's school, whence the pure soul rises refined, and soars above the world.

3. Favourable to morals, religion or prosperity; sensible; conducive to good; salutary; promoting virtue or being virtuous.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Proverbs 15:4, column 1:

     A wholeſome tongue is a tree of life: but peruerſneſſe therein is a breach in the ſpirit.

4. Marked by wholeness; sound and healthy.
5. Decent; innocuous; sweet.
   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, OCLC 1023879857, page 171:

     The more solicitous of the two was Nurse Cramer, a shapely, pretty, sexless girl with a wholesome unattractive face.

   • 2017 April 13, Mitchy Collins, Samantha Derosa, and Christian Medice, “Broken”, in Finding It Hard to Smile‎, performed by Lovelytheband:

     There's something tragic, but almost pure / Think I could love you, but I'm not sure / There's something wholesome, there's something sweet / Tucked in your eyes that I'd love to meet

   • 2019, Gretchen McCulloch, Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, Riverhead Books, →ISBN:

     Around the same time, “wholesome” memes of cute doggos and puppers rejuvenated social media feeds that seemed daily filled with fresh horrors.

   • 2020 February 3, Kaitlyn Tiffany, “The Misogynistic Joke That Became a Goth-Meme Fairy Tale”, in The Atlantic‎:

     The comment section on a recent post making fun of a “cute” and “wholesome” Doomer Girl meme is mixed.

Synonyms

• (promoting health): healthy, healthful, salubrious

Antonyms

• unwholesome

Derived terms

• wholesomely
• wholesomeness

Translations

promoting good health, and well-being

Bulgarian: здравосло́вен (bg) (zdravoslóven) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: sund (da), helsebringende Esperanto: saniga Faroese: heilsugóður, heilsugevandi Finnish: terveellinen (fi) French: salubre (fr), sain (fr) Georgian: ჯანმრთელი (ǯanmrteli), საღი (saɣi) German: gesund (de), heilsam (de), gesundheitsfördernd, gesundheitsförderlich Hungarian: jótékony (hu), egészséges (hu), tápláló (hu) Irish: folláin Italian: salubre (it) Maori: whakahauora Occitan: san (oc), salubre Polish: zdrowy (pl) Portuguese: saudável (pt) Russian: поле́зный (ru) (poléznyj), благотво́рный (ru) (blagotvórnyj) Spanish: saludable (es) Swedish: no equivalent term in Swedish, but see helylle, hälsosam (sv),nyttig (sv), sund (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: sağlıklı (tr), sıhhatli (tr)

favourable to morals, religion or prosperity; sensible; conducive to good; salutary; promoting virtue or being virtuous

Bulgarian: здравосло́вен (bg) (zdravoslóven) Danish: retskaffen Dutch: deugdelijk (nl) Finnish: hyveellinen, tervehenkinen French: vertueux (fr) Georgian: კეთილთვისებიანი (ḳetiltvisebiani) German: tugendhaft (de), rechtschaffen (de) Hungarian: üdvös (hu), helyes (hu), erényes (hu), épületes (hu), tanulságos Occitan: vertuós Portuguese: íntegro (pt) Russian: добродетельный (ru) (dobrodetelʹnyj), благонравный (ru) (blagonravnyj) Serbo-Croatian: blagotvoran (sh) m Spanish: íntegro (es) Swedish: no equivalent term in Swedish, but see helylle Turkish: erdemli (tr), faziletli (tr)

marked by wholeness; sound and healthy

Bulgarian: здравосло́вен (bg) (zdravoslóven) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: zdravý (cs) Danish: sund (da) Esperanto: sana (eo) Finnish: terve (fi) French: sain (fr) Galician: forte (gl), san (gl) Georgian: ჯანმრთელი (ǯanmrteli), საღი (saɣi) German: gesund (de), förderlich (de) Hebrew: בריא‎ (he) Hungarian: üdvös (hu), egészséges (hu), hasznos (hu) Maori: hauora Occitan: san (oc) Portuguese: salutar (pt) Russian: здоровый (ru) (zdorovyj) Spanish: sano (es) Swedish: hälsosam (sv),nyttig (sv), sund (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: faydalı (tr), yaralı (tr)

References

• wholesome in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• wholesome in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913