malnourished

as in starving
not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food; poorly nourished The malnourished children were slowly nursed back to health.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 malnourished Programs that have been Mr. Gates’s priorities for decades were wiped out: vaccine research for malaria; deliveries of therapeutic food packets developed by the foundation to malnourished children; and African programs to deliver H.I.V. prevention technologies that the foundation helped invent. Theodore Schleifer, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025 Listen to this article Three children, the youngest just 10 months old, were found malnourished in deplorable living conditions inside a Brooklyn home — with one tied to a bed with a piece of fabric, cops said Wednesday. Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 2 Apr. 2025 Many of the hostages released by Hamas returned emaciated and malnourished and described harsh conditions in captivity. Wafaa Shurafa, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2025 This past week, aid groups raised the alarm, saying thousands of children have become malnourished and most people are barely eating one meal a day as supplies dwindle, according to the United Nations. Arkansas Online, 20 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for malnourished
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malnourished
Adjective
  • Smith said the skin can undergo further harm, as many are often undernourished thanks to the decrease in appetite from the drugs.
    Emily Burns, Footwear News, 7 May 2025
  • Cosmo is largely wasted in a rote cranky-but-loyal part that adds little to the undernourished whole.
    Dennis Harvey, Variety, 29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Though she’s excelled on the NCAA stage – helping LSU to its 2024 title and earning multiple SEC titles, McClain is hungry for more.
    Caroline Price, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
  • But after the county launched an aggressive public campaign to educate residents about securing garbage containers that attract hungry bears with no access to a natural food supply, incident reports plummeted.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 May 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Malnourished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malnourished. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on malnourished

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!