Link Centre Dictionary

wholesome

who·le·some

UK/ˈhəʊl.səm/ US/ˈhoʊl.səm/ uncommon

adjective

1.

conducive to or characteristic of physical or moral well-being

  • “wholesome attitude”
  • “wholesome appearance”
  • “wholesome food”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

sound or exhibiting soundness in body or mind

  • “exercise develops wholesome appetites”
  • “a grin on his ugly wholesome face”
Similar

Origin

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 or hale (“healthy”) + -some. Cognate with Saterland Frisian heelsoam, Dutch heilzaam, German Low German heelsaam, German heilsam, Icelandic heilsamur, Norwegian Nynorsk helsesam, Swedish hälsosam (“wholesome”).

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.