INSALUBRIOUS Synonyms: 21 Similar and Opposite Words

insalubrious

adjective

ˌin-sə-ˈlü-brē-əs

Definition of insalubrious

as in poisonous

bad for the well-being of the body after inhaling the insalubrious city smog for a month, I was happy to once again breathe in the fresh air of the country

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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 insalubrious The refuse rising in insalubrious piles, some taller than the pedestrians trying to avoid them, is a smelly, visceral symbol of popular outrage at the government’s plan. — Catherine Porter, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2023 Many of the area's most insalubrious haunts are long gone, and in their place mostly restaurants, which come and go. — Tom Page, CNN, 30 Jan. 2023 Exercise enjoys a health halo, justifying, for some of us, insalubrious habits. — Gretchen Reynolds, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Jan. 2023 On the site of an important 19th-century water mill, in a somewhat insalubrious part of town, is a modest looking Mosque with a beautiful new artwork. — Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2021

Recent Examples of Synonyms for insalubrious

Adjective

With the throne disengaged from governance, petitions and reports from officials piled up unread, crucial state posts went unfilled, and the imperial bureaucracy splintered amid poisonous factional infighting.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026
With this potential even more poisonous investments in the bloated and indebted Paramount behemoth, there’s even more reason to reject it.

— Abigail Disney, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of poisonous

Adjective

Warnings of unhealthful air quality remained in effect Saturday across a wide swath of the United States due to smoke from Canadian wildfires that has engulfed the Northeast in haze for days.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2026
The soil may contain pathogens, pesticides and other unhealthful things.

— Joan Morris, Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2026

Definition of unhealthful

Adjective

As many have observed, and Republicans are somewhat ineffectually seeking to highlight, the post-Barack Obama Democratic Party has come to consist of little more than a toxic mixture of socialism, antisemitism and wokeness.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026
Several years later, DeLay was the force driving Clinton’s impeachment and was simply too toxic to seek the speaker’s chair.

— Michael Tarm, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of toxic

Adjective

Officers punched him, covered his face, poured a noxious liquid over him and threatened him with further abuse.

— Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026
Delphi sits above a geologic vent, an X from which noxious gases escaped the earth, corrupting the minds of women who inhaled and pronounced their prophecies.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of noxious

Adjective

The sickly scent of alcohol filled the air and, when mixed with accompanying cigar smoke, combined for an odor most might find displeasing.

— Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026
There’s not a single shot of a healthy human being in the movie, only wraiths filmed in sickly shades of pink, red and blue.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of sickly

Adjective

Nike told Vogue Business that Hill, who became CEO in 2024, has cleaned up unhealthy inventory, reset the marketplace, and created more space for a new series of Nike performance products and innovation.

— Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
But that life was disrupted when her father took up a mistress and developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, causing Barbara to move several times and board with neighbors before eventually settling into a two-room apartment with her mother.

— Genevieve Uzamere, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of unhealthy

Adjective

Employees were observed to only sanitize their gloved hands after touching insanitary surfaces and then resumed touching RTE food and various food contact surfaces.

— Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 12 Jan. 2025
The company admitted that by January 2021 some employees were aware that the insanitary conditions were causing products to become contaminated.

— Kate Gibson, CBS News, 26 Feb. 2024

Definition of insanitary

Browse Nearby Words

ins

insalubrious

ins and outs

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“Insalubrious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insalubrious. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of insalubrious

adjective

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