Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective salutary contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of salutary are healthful, salubrious, and wholesome. While all these words mean "favorable to the health of mind or body," salutary describes something corrective or beneficially effective, even though it may in itself be unpleasant.

a salutary warning that resulted in increased production

When could healthful be used to replace salutary?

The synonyms healthful and salutary are sometimes interchangeable, but healthful implies a positive contribution to a healthy condition.

a healthful diet

When might salubrious be a better fit than salutary?

While in some cases nearly identical to salutary, salubrious applies chiefly to the helpful effects of climate or air.

cool and salubrious weather

In what contexts can wholesome take the place of salutary?

The words wholesome and salutary can be used in similar contexts, but wholesome applies to what benefits, builds up, or sustains physically, mentally, or spiritually.

wholesome foods
the movie is wholesome family entertainment

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of salutary This is often celebrated as another salutary effect of creating jobs for people’s spouses. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2024 To that end, the ever-gracious Greene always made a point of connecting people, but more in a salutary way than a pushy way. Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 5 Dec. 2024 That kind of give-and-take seems rare in national life at the moment, but Boot touches on other aspects of Reagan’s leadership that are anything but salutary. Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Oct. 2024 The results should make salutary reading for the U.K.’s new government, which has been talking a lot about the need for growth but also proposing new laws concerning workers’ rights and is believed to be contemplating higher taxes in its first Budget next month. Roger Trapp, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for salutary 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for salutary
Adjective
  • Finding another team to take Anderson would be beneficial for the Heat, as shedding his salary would bring the Heat under the punitive luxury tax and first apron.
    Barry Jackson and, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2025
  • Glycerin is another beneficial humectant ingredient.
    Matt Fuchs, TIME, 6 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Employees at a unionized Alamo Drafthouse theater in Colorado are making good on a threat to strike, walking out ahead of what is expected to be a healthy Valentine’s Day-slash-President’s Day box office weekend.
    Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Carter started three of 11 games, missing time with a wrist injury, but was a healthy scratch throughout the playoffs.
    Tim Graham, The Athletic, 14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions for singles who are actively dating.
    Fernanda Galan, Sacramento Bee, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Around nine in ten Catholics who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party have a favorable view of him, compared to 63 percent of Catholics who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party.
    Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • If that’s the case, according to best appraisal practices, they should not be considered true indicators of market value for all properties of their type.
    Fritz Kaegi, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025
  • Neither former Mayor Bill de Blasio nor incumbent Mayor Adams signed the Council bill; as both mayors were getting good legal advice.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Wellness Turns out magnesium isn’t only helpful at night. February 11, 2025 All products are independently selected by our editors.
    Fiona Embleton, Glamour, 11 Feb. 2025
  • How to eat during every phase of your menstrual cycle A healthy, balanced diet—with plenty of fiber, lean protein, vegetables, and whole grains—is helpful at every stage of the menstrual cycle, and for all facets of general health.
    Hannah Coates, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Cryer started her company in 2017 to promote natural healing over pharmaceuticals, and got a certification in medicinal plants from Cornell University.
    Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
  • This typically occurs when using ACV for medicinal purposes.
    Ashley Wong, Health, 11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Beauty companies are increasingly focused on longevity, which is about health span — in other words, finding ways for people to experience more healthful and beautiful lives for a longer period.
    Jennifer Weil, WWD, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Research suggests that annatto has many healthful properties.
    Ann Pietrangelo, Verywell Health, 24 Sep. 2024
Adjective
  • Less salubrious was Mahler-Werfel’s own political evolution in the twenties and thirties.
    Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
  • California’s salubrious climate, vigorous, entrepreneurial economy and guarantee of reproductive healthcare rights didn’t avert a population decline earlier in this decade.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near salutary

Cite this Entry

“Salutary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/salutary. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on salutary

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