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healthy

health·y [ hélthee ] (comparative health·i·er, superlative health·i·est)


adjective 
Definition:
 
1. in good condition: in good physical or mental condition

2. beneficial to health: helping to maintain or bring about good health
a healthy diet

3. suggestive of good health: showing that somebody is in good health

4. psychologically sound: showing or encouraging moral or psychological soundness

5. functioning well: in a prosperous and efficient condition
a healthy economy

6. big: large, usually satisfyingly large, in size or quantity ( informal )
a healthy dose of skepticism


health·i·ly adverb
health·i·ness noun

Word Usage
healthy or healthful?

It is sometimes argued that healthy should be used only to describe a living being in good health, and that healthful is the word for such things as habits or foods promoting good health. There is nothing wrong with observing this distinction, but there is also nothing wrong with using healthy as a synonym for healthful, as reputable writers have been doing for centuries. Indeed, this usage received federal sanction in 1995, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration issued regulations governing the ways healthy may be used on labels to describe food products.

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