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Definition of malnourished

malnourished

/mælˈnɜːr.ɪʃt/
mal · nour · ished
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malnourished Lexical Profile

malnourished Game Scores & Validity

• adjective

1

Suffering from poor health or physical weakness caused by an insufficient or unbalanced diet lacking essential nutrients.

Example

"The veterinary clinic provided specialized dietary care to help the malnourished stray dogs regain their strength."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for malnourished
Antonyms
View all antonyms for malnourished

Word Nuance & Usage

While often used interchangeably with 'undernourished', 'malnourished' technically refers to any serious imbalance of essential nutrients, which can result from an unhealthy diet even when total calorie intake is sufficient.

• Rhymes for malnourished

• Nearby Words

mallet
mallow
malmo
malnourished
malnourishment
malnutrition
malodor

Word Origin & Etymology

Formed in the early 20th century as a back-formation from 'malnutrition' or by combining the prefix 'mal-' (from Latin 'malus', meaning 'bad') with 'nourished' (from Old French 'norrir' and Latin 'nutrire', meaning 'to feed' or 'to suckle').

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Malnourished. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/malnourished
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