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salutary

UK/ˈsaljʊtəɹi/US/ˈsæljətɛɹi/
adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,845 of 15,258neutral

Salutary means producing a good effect, though unpleasant at the time. A salutary lesson, a salutary reminder, salutary effect.

It nearly always goes with lesson, reminder or warning, and the good is in what follows rather than in the experience. The Latin salus means health, which is the same root as salute — so the word is about what is good for you.

Definitions of salutary

  1. 1adjectivesalutaryProducing a good effect, though unpleasant at the time.C2

    “The fine was a salutary reminder that the rules applied to him too.”

salutary is a quality of benefit.

Where it comes from

Latin salutaris means healthful, from salus, health or safety. Salute and salubrious come from the same health.

  1. Latin

    salutaris — healthful

  2. Middle French

    salutaire

  3. English, today

    salutary

Built from

  • salus · Latin — health

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

salutary in the wild

  • The latter are largely viewed by modern historians as having been potentially salutary, had they been implemented.

    Executionist movement

  • Such theory does not differ much from salutary neglect or laissez faire.

    Metaconstitution

  • The shock of that seizure had salutary results in Serbia, for it called into existence a widespread spirit of patriotism, especially among the youth.

    Teodor Filipović

  • The New Yorker reviewed Surveillance Valley positively describing it as "forceful" and "salutary".

    Yasha Levine

  • Bhanot is a Punjabi Hindu surname, variously characterised as Brahmin, Chuhras, or Rajputs; they are also listed as a group of salutary guardsman to the Dogra rulers.

    Bhanot

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the salus family

salute

salutary — used about once every 81,824 pages · #14,845 · point at the bar for the others