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-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole +‎ -some. Cognate with Dutch heilzaam, Icelandic heilsamur, Norwegian Nynorsk helsesam, Swedish hälsosam (“wholesome”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊlsəm/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

wholesome (comparative wholesomer, superlative 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”‎^[1]:

     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.
   • 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^[2]:

     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

• Irish: folláin
• Italian: salubre (it)
• Maori: whakahauora
• Occitan: san (oc), salubre
• Polish: zdrowy (pl)
• Portuguese: saudável (pt)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: saludable (es)
• Swedish: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: sağlıklı (tr), sıhhatli (tr)

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)
• Maori: hauora
• Occitan: san (oc)
• Portuguese: salutar (pt)
• Russian: здоровый (ru) (zdorovyj)
• Spanish: sano (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: faydalı (tr), yaralı (tr)

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)
• Occitan: vertuós

• Portuguese: íntegro (pt)
• Russian: добродетельный (ru) (dobrodetelʹnyj), благонравный (ru) (blagonravnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: blagotvoran (sh) m
• Spanish: íntegro (es)
• Turkish: erdemli (tr), faziletli (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.