healthy implies full strength and vigor as well as freedom from signs of disease.
a healthy family
sound emphasizes the absence of disease, weakness, or malfunction.
a sound heart
wholesome implies appearance and behavior indicating soundness and balance.
a face with a wholesome glow
robust implies the opposite of all that is delicate or sickly.
a lively, robust little boy
hale applies particularly to robustness in old age.
still hale at the age of eighty
well implies merely freedom from disease or illness.
she has never been a well person
Example Sentences
Adjective still hale and strong at 80, often outdoing his younger golfing buddies Verb the fishermen haled the huge net onto the deck of the ship
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The Chamber of Commerce dream demographic for new Angelenos was hale, white, middle- and yeoman-class Americans. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2022 At a hale 77, Diana Beresford-Kroeger is a medical biochemist, botanist, organic chemist, poet, author and developer of artificial blood.New York Times, 24 Feb. 2022 After all, just how much did wearing a mask hinder a hale and hearty person from getting to their final destination?Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2022 Out in the cold sunshine of the patio, parents lead wobbly kids from the slopes toward the parking lots, weaving through an assortment of free-ranging dogs and hale locals, who share BYO beers and the deep laughter of the young and the free.San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2022 Out in the cold sunshine of the patio, parents lead wobbly kids from the slopes toward the parking lots, weaving through an assortment of free-ranging dogs and hale locals, who share BYO beers and the deep laughter of the young and the free.San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2022 Out in the cold sunshine of the patio, parents lead wobbly kids from the slopes toward the parking lots, weaving through an assortment of free-ranging dogs and hale locals, who share BYO beers and the deep laughter of the young and the free.San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2022 Out in the cold sunshine of the patio, parents lead wobbly kids from the slopes toward the parking lots, weaving through an assortment of free-ranging dogs and hale locals, who share BYO beers and the deep laughter of the young and the free.San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2022 Out in the cold sunshine of the patio, parents lead wobbly kids from the slopes toward the parking lots, weaving through an assortment of free-ranging dogs and hale locals, who share BYO beers and the deep laughter of the young and the free.San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2022
Verb
Even though no one is being haled into court, parents still need to behave civilly. Paul Sullivan, New York Times, 8 May 2020 Then an employer who attempts union-busting could be haled into court and face an injunction against demoting or firing union organizers, followed by a trial and possibly heavy damages. Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, 28 June 2018 See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
partly from Middle English (northern) hale, from Old English hāl; partly from Middle English hail, from Old Norse heill — more at whole
Verb
Middle English halen, from Anglo-French haler, aler — more at haul