wholesome

/ˈhoʊl.səm/

//ˈhoʊl.səm// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"wholesome" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wholesome” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,868. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,868
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Promoting good physical health and well-being.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wholesome · wholesome · English

wholesome · rank #14,868 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #14,868
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH Weiss

Nearest frequency peer: Weiss (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “wholesome”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “wholesome” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

wholesome vs wholesale
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for wholesome
PropertyValue
Headwordwholesome
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈhoʊl.səm/
Letters9
Frequency rank#14,868
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “wholesome”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).wholesomelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Weiss” (#14,867), “Wiley” (#14,869), “Watkins” (#14,866). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wholesome” is #14,868. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around wholesome (IPA /ˈhoʊl.səm/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #14,868 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for wholesome, with forms such as "hwolesome", "whholesome", and "whloesome". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "wholesale", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier holesome, from Middle English holsom, holsum, helsum, halsum, from Old English *hālsum, *hǣlsum, from Proto-West Germanic *hailasam, from Proto-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole + -some or hale (“healthy”) + -some. Cognate with Saterlan… The correct English form is wholesome, spelled W-H-O-L-E-S-O-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Promoting good physical health and well-being.
  2. 2
    Promoting moral and mental well-being.
  3. 3
    Favorable to morals, religion or prosperity; sensible; conducive to good; salutary; promoting virtue or being virtuous.
  4. 4
    Marked by wholeness; sound and healthy.
  5. 5
    Decent; innocuous; sweet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I prethee go, and get me ſome repaſt, I care not what, ſo it be holſome foode.
  2. Though hard, my friends, yet wholesome are the truths, taught in affliction's school, whence the pure soul rises refined, and soars above the world.

Etymology

From earlier holesome, from Middle English holsom, holsum, helsum, halsum, from Old English *hālsum, *hǣlsum, from Proto-West Germanic *hailasam, from Proto-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole + -some or hale (“healthy”) + -some. Cognate with Saterland Frisian heelsoam, Dutch heilzaam, German Low German heelsaam, German heilsam, Icelandic heilsamur, Norwegian Nynorsk helsesam, Swedish hälsosam (“wholesome”).

Synonyms

healthyhealthfulsalubrious

Antonyms

unwholesome

This word in other languages

saludable(Español)salubre(Français)gesund(Deutsch)saudável(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hwolesome
  • whholesome
  • whloesome
  • whoelsome
  • wholeosme
  • wholesmoe
  • wholesoem
  • wholesomme
  • wholessome
  • whollesome
  • wholseome
  • wohlesome
  • wwholesome

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wholesome - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hwolesome2whholesome1whloesome2whoelsome2wholeosme2wholesmoe2wholesoem2wholesomme1
Edit distance from "wholesome"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wholesome"?
"wholesome" is spelled W-H-O-L-E-S-O-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhoʊl.səm/.
What does "wholesome" mean?
As an adjective, "wholesome" means: Promoting good physical health and well-being.
What words are commonly confused with "wholesome"?
"wholesome" is commonly confused with "wholesale". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wholesome"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wholesome" is /ˈhoʊl.səm/. 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 "wholesome"?
From earlier holesome, from Middle English holsom, holsum, helsum, halsum, from Old English *hālsum, *hǣlsum, from Proto-West Germanic *hailasam, from Proto-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole + -some or hale (“healthy”) + -some. Cognate wit... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wholesome", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

absorbing#14,874adjoining#14,877arresting#14,886syndicate#14,850

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

allegation13 variantstrenches13 variantsancestry13 variantsTownsend13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list