wholesome

English

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 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”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈholsəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. Promoting good physical health and well-being.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), 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, [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, “Theodora”, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music)‎:

     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, 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.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 128, lines 195–196:

     Sometimes white Lyllies did their Leaves afford,
     With wholſom Polly-flow'rs, to mend his homely Board: […]

   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, 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, 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.

Alternative forms

• holesom, holesome, wholsom, wholsome (obsolete)

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), jóleső (hu) Irish: folláin Italian: salubre (it) Macedonian: по́лезен (pólezen), благо́творен (blagótvoren) Maori: whakahauora Occitan: san (oc), salubre (oc) 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 (hu) Macedonian: доброде́телен (dobrodételen) Occitan: vertuós (oc) 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) Macedonian: здрав (zdrav) Maori: hauora Occitan: san (oc) Portuguese: salutar (pt) Russian: здоровый (ru) (zdorovyj) Spanish: sano (es), lozano (es), edificante (es) Swedish: hälsosam (sv), nyttig (sv), sund (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: faydalı (tr), yaralı (tr)

decent; innocuous; sweet

Hungarian: üdítő (hu), kedves (hu), jóleső (hu), szívmelengető (hu)

References

• “wholesome”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “wholesome”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.