sanitary

san·i·ta·ry
S1A1N1I1T1A1R1Y4
Australia, UK/ˈsænɪt(ə)ɹi/Canada, US/ˈsænɪˌtɛɹi/Canada, US[ˈsɛənɪˌtɛɹi]Philippines/saniˈtaɾi/

adjective

Of or relating to health.

Opposite
CommonScrabble 11

Meanings

adjectivesanitary (comparative more sanitary, superlative most sanitary)

comparative more sanitary · superlative most sanitary

  1. Of or relating to health.
  2. Clean and free from pathogens; hygienic.
nounsanitary (plural sanitaries)

plural sanitaries

  1. Sanitary towel.

    When I made evening rounds, I saw women with their hair rolled, using the sanitaries for rollers.

    1996, Tekla Dennison Miller, The Warden Wore Pink, page 117
    2 more examples

    Women... bleed all over everything because of no proper sanitary protection for disposal and no tampons are issued, bloody unwrapped sanitaries are in every dorm john, every trash can, and blood on every faucet handle...and everywhere imaginable.

    2002, Jael Silliman, Anannya Bhattacharjee, Angela Yvonne Davis, Policing the National Body: Sex, Race, and Criminalization, →ISBN, page 21

    But sanitaries are the worst. The prison only brings out two packs of sanitaries for everybody, and that's like 240 of sanitaries every month for all the women.

    2004, LaVerne McQuiller Williams, Women, Crime, and the Criminal Justice System, →ISBN, page 24

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivefree from filth and pathogens

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinsanitas“health”
  2. Frenchsanitaire
  3. Englishsanitary

19th century, borrowed from French sanitaire, formed from Latin sanitas (“health”). Analysable as sanity + -ary.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian санитарен, чист
  • санитарен (sanitaren)of health
  • чист (čist)hygienic
  • хигиеничен (higieničen)hygienic
Czech sanitární, sanitární
  • sanitárníof health
  • sanitárníhygienic
Danish sanitær, sanitær
  • sanitærof health
  • sanitærhygienic
Finnish terveys-, saniteetti-
  • terveys-of health
  • saniteetti-of health
  • saniteetti-hygienic
French sanitaire, sanitaire
  • sanitaireof health
  • sanitairehygienic
German Gesundheits-, sanitär
  • Gesundheits-of health
  • sanitärhygienic
Italian sanitario, igienico
  • sanitarioof health
  • igienicohygienic
Latin saniter, sanitera
  • saniterof health
  • saniteraof health
  • saniterumof health
Māori parukore
  • parukorehygienic
Norwegian Bokmål sanitær, hygienisk
  • sanitærof health
  • hygieniskhygienic
  • sanitærhygienic
Norwegian Nynorsk sanitær
  • sanitærof health
Polish sanitarny
  • sanitarnyof health
Russian санита́рный
  • санита́рный (sanitárnyj)of health
Spanish sanitario
  • sanitarioof health
Swedish sanitär, sanitets-
  • sanitärof health
  • sanitets-of health
  • sanitärhygienic
  • hygieniskhygienic
  • sanitets-hygienic
  • hygien-hygienic
Tagalog palagalingin
  • palagalinginof health
Thai อนามัย
  • อนามัย (à-naa-mai)hygienic
Ukrainian саніта́рний
  • саніта́рний (sanitárnyj)of health
Vietnamese vệ sinh, sạch
  • vệ sinhof health
  • sạchhygienic

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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