salutary

S1A1L1U1T1A1R1Y4
UK/ˈsaljʊtəɹi/US/ˈsæljətɛɹi/

adjective

Effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial.

“salutary advice”

UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

adjectivesalutary (comparative more salutary, superlative most salutary)

comparative more salutary · superlative most salutary

  1. Effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial.

    salutary advice

    3 more examples

    The effect was most salutary; and, amid starts and screams—for the poor girl was fairly frightened out of the small portion of sense that, at any time, belonged to her—they learned that Lord Marchmont had been found dead in his bed; and that Lady Marchmont was, with the shock, in a state of almost insanity!

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Chamber of Death”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 268

    We do it here historically, and I think it's, um, very salutary to know quite a bit about the history of ideas, particularly in philosophy which always suffers from a tendency to follow the latest fashion.

    1972, Michael Chanan, “Logic Lane”, in YouTube

    Using such neofuturists as Nicholas Negroponte to support his argument, Groper argues that “being digital” is constitutive of today’s salutary political life (167).

    2000, Anthony G. Wilhelm, Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace, Routledge, →ISBN, page 21
  2. Promoting good health and physical well-being; wholesome; curative.

    In the living state, the body is observed to […] reject what is noxious; to select what is salutary; […]

    1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization, Edinburgh; London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 1

    Synonyms: healful, healthful, healthy, salubrious · Antonyms: insalubrious, insalutary

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivePromoting good health and physical well-being; wholesome; curative.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivetending to promote physical well-being; beneficial to health

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinsalutaris“healthful”
  2. Middle Frenchsalutaire
  3. Englishsalutary

Borrowed from Middle French salutaire and its source, Latin salutaris (“healthful”), from salus (“health”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian благотворен, здравословен
  • благотворен (blagotvoren)effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • здравословен (zdravosloven)promoting good health and physical well-being
Chinese Cantonese 有效益嘅
  • 有效益嘅 (jau⁵ haau⁶ jik¹ ge³)effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
Chinese Mandarin 有益的, 有幫助的 /有帮助的
  • 有益的 (yǒuyì de)effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • 有幫助的 /有帮助的 (yǒu bāngzhù de)effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • 健康 (jiànkāng)promoting good health and physical well-being
Finnish hyödyllinen, terveellinen
  • hyödyllineneffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • terveellineneffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • terveellinenpromoting good health and physical well-being
French salutaire
  • salutairepromoting good health and physical well-being
Italian salutare, benefico
  • salutarepromoting good health and physical well-being
  • beneficopromoting good health and physical well-being
Norwegian Bokmål gavnlig, gagnlig
  • gavnligeffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • gagnligeffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • helsebringendepromoting good health and physical well-being
  • sunnpromoting good health and physical well-being
Polish zbawienny, pożyteczny
  • zbawiennyeffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • pożytecznyeffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • zdrowotnypromoting good health and physical well-being
Russian исцеля́ющий, целе́бный
  • исцеля́ющий (isceljájuščij)effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • целе́бный (celébnyj)effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
Spanish saludable, bueno
  • saludableeffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • buenoeffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • salutíferoeffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • bueneffecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice
  • saludablepromoting good health and physical well-being
  • buenopromoting good health and physical well-being
  • salutíferopromoting good health and physical well-being
  • salubrepromoting good health and physical well-being
Cite this entry
APA

salutary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salutary

MLA

“salutary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salutary. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “salutary,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salutary.

Source: salutary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.