undernourishing
Providing inadequate sustenance
Undernourishing describes food or diet that fails to provide adequate nutrition: The undernourishing meals left the children weak and listless.
It can extend to anything that starves what it should sustain—an undernourishing environment for creativity, an undernourishing relationship.
The word emphasizes the inadequacy of what's being provided rather than total absence.
Below required quantity
- inadequateNot sufficient for purpose
- lackingBeing without something
- meagerDeficient in quantity
- scantBarely adequate amount
sparse · depleted · deficient · poor · limited · substandard · incomplete · unsatisfactory
Below normal mass
- emaciationExtreme bodily thinness
- wastingUsing poorly, inefficiently
- stuntingArresting natural growth
- anemiaRed cell deficiency
rickets · scurvy · cachexia · atrophy · debilitation · deficiency · starvation · failure to thrive
Detrimental to wellbeing
- unfillingRemoving what was added
- unsatisfyingFailing to gratify
- empty caloriesEnergy lacking nutrients
- junkWorthless discarded items
processed · hollow · insubstantial · barren · fruitless
insufficient
Below required quantity
- inadequateNot sufficient for purpose
- lackingBeing without something
- meagerDeficient in quantity
scant · sparse · depleted · deficient · poor · limited · substandard · incomplete · unsatisfactory · impoverished
underweight
Below normal mass
- emaciationExtreme bodily thinness
- wastingUsing poorly, inefficiently
- stuntingArresting natural growth
anemia · rickets · scurvy · cachexia · atrophy · debilitation · deficiency · starvation · failure to thrive · protein deficiency
unwholesome
Detrimental to wellbeing
- unfillingRemoving what was added
- unsatisfyingFailing to gratify
- empty caloriesEnergy lacking nutrients
junk · processed · hollow · insubstantial · barren · fruitless
starving
Suffering extreme hunger
- famishedIntensely, painfully hungry
- ravenousExtremely hungry, insatiable
- underfedLacking adequate food
hungry · deprived · empty · gnawing · pangs · unfed · unsatisfied · wanting · craving · peckish
undernourishingnourishing
Promoting health through food
nutritious · fortifying · wholesome · nutrient-rich · healthful
nurse, nourish, nutrition, nourishment, nourishing, nutritious, nutrient, nourished, nutritional