unwholesome

English

Etymology

From Middle English unholsom; equivalent to un- +‎ wholesome.

Adjective

unwholesome (comparative more unwholesome, superlative most unwholesome)

1. Not wholesome; unfavorable to health; unhealthful.

   unwholesome air, or food

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 4:

     Caliban: As wicked dewe, as ere my mother bruſh'd / With Rauens feather from vnwholeſome Fen / Drop on you both : A Southweſt blow on yee, / And bliſter you all ore.

2. Not sound; tainted; defective.
3. Indicating unsound health; characteristic of or suggesting an unsound condition, physical or mental; repulsive; offensive.

Antonyms

• wholesome

Derived terms

• unwholesomely
• unwholesomeness

Translations

not wholesome

• Faroese: ósunnur
• German: ungesund (de), unheilsam
• Hebrew: חולני
• Irish: anfholláin
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: malsano, insalubre (it), sfavorevole (it)
• Latin: morbidus
• Romanian: insalubru (ro), nesănătos (ro)
• Russian: вре́дный (ru) (vrédnyj), нездоровый (ru) (nezdorovyj)

References

• “unwholesome”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.