insalubrious

/ɪnsəˈluːbɹɪəs/

//ɪnsəˈluːbɹɪəs// adj

"insalubrious" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“insalubrious” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Unhealthful, not providing or promoting health.

Corpus desk

Index EN-insalubrious · insalubrious · English

insalubrious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for insalubrious
PropertyValue
Headwordinsalubrious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɪnsəˈluːbɹɪəs/
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “insalubrious” in English

insalubrioussits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

insalubrious is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɪnsəˈluːbɹɪəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Unhealthful, not providing or promoting health.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for insalubrious, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From in- + salubrious. The correct English form is insalubrious, spelled I-N-S-A-L-U-B-R-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Unhealthful, not providing or promoting health.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how insalubrious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. What in the name of Common Sense is to recommend Brinshore?—A most insalubrious Air—Roads proverbially detestable—Water Brackish beyond example, impossible to get a good dish of Tea within 3 miles of the place—& as for the Soil—it is so cold & ungrateful that it can hardly be made to yeild^([sic]) a Cabbage.
  2. But while the were a few pockets of the city centre that were desirable places in which to live, for the most part London's traditional areas were overcrowded and insalubrious.

Etymology

From in- + salubrious.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "insalubrious"?
"insalubrious" is spelled I-N-S-A-L-U-B-R-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪnsəˈluːbɹɪəs/.
What does "insalubrious" mean?
As an adjective, "insalubrious" means: Unhealthful, not providing or promoting health.
How do you pronounce "insalubrious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "insalubrious" is /ɪnsəˈluːbɹɪəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "insalubrious"?
From in- + salubrious. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list