<Healthful, wholesome, salutary, salubrious, sanitary, hygienic>. (With this group contrast the Disease group below.)
The words of this group are assuredly blessed. Every one of them has to do with the giving, promotion, or preservation of health. But health is of various kinds, and therefore the words apply differently. Healthful is the most inclusive of them; it means that the thing it refers to is full of health for us. Wholesome also is a very broad term; what is wholesome is good for us physically, mentally, or morally. Salutary is confined to that which affects for good our moral (including civic and social) welfare, especially if it counteracts evil influences or propensities. Salubrious is confined to the physical; it is used almost solely of healthful air or climate. Sanitary and hygienic apply to physical well-being as promoted by the eradication of the causes for sickness, disease, or the like; sanitary, however, is used of measures and conditions affecting people in general, whereas hygienic connects itself with personal habits.
Assignment for further discrimination: The word healthy is often confused with healthful. You have already discriminated between these two terms, but you should renew your knowledge of the distinction between them.
Sentences: Colorado is noted for its ____ air. He offered the young people some ____ advice. A person should brush his teeth every day for ____ reasons. In spite of its horrors, the French Revolution has had a ____ effect upon civilization. Damp, low places do not have a ____ climate. Cities in the middle ages were not ____. His is a very ____ way of life. My doctor recommends buttermilk as ____.
<Heavy, weighty, burdensome, onerous>.
He knew that it was a ____ responsibility. (Insert the four words in the blank space in turn, and analyze the differences in meaning thus produced.)
<Liberal, generous, bountiful, munificent>.
He made a ____ donation to the endowment fund. (Insert the four words in the blank space in turn, and analyze the differences in meaning.)
<Masculine, male, manly, manlike, manful, mannish, virile>.
"A man's a man for a' that," sang the poet. So he is, but not all the adjectives allusive to his state are equally complimentary. Masculine betokens the qualities and characteristics belonging to men. Male designates sex and is used of animals as well as human beings. Manly (used of boys as well as men) implies the possession of qualities worthy of a man, as strength, courage, sincerity, honesty, independence, or even tenderness. Manlike refers to qualities, attributes, or foibles characteristically masculine. Manful suggests the valor, prowess, or resolution properly belonging to men. Mannish (a derogatory word) indicates superficial or affected qualities of manhood, especially when inappropriately possessed by a woman. Virile applies to the sturdy and intrepid qualities of mature manhood.