noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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US:/ˌmæl.nuˈtɹɪʃ.ən/
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɪʃən
CMU ARPABET:M AE2 L N UW0 T R IH1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A lack of adequate nourishment.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
a state of poor nutrition; can result from insufficient or excessive or unbalanced diet or from inability to absorb foods
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel-? Proto-Italic *malos Latin malus Latin maleder. Old French mal- English mal- English nutrition English malnutrition From mal- + nutrition.
Across languages
Translations
37 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
سُوء تَغْذِيَة
(sūʔ taḡḏiya)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Armenian:
թերասնում
(tʻerasnum)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Bulgarian:
недохранване
(nedohranvane)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Burmese:
အာဟာရချို့တဲ့ခြင်း
(ahara.hkyui.tai.hkrang:)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Catalan:
desnutrició
— lack of adequate nourishment
Chinese Mandarin:
營養不良 /营养不良
(yíngyǎng bùliáng)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Czech:
podvýživa
— lack of adequate nourishment
Danish:
fejlernæring
— lack of adequate nourishment
Danish:
underernæring
— lack of adequate nourishment
Dutch:
ondervoeding
— lack of adequate nourishment
Finnish:
aliravitsemus
— lack of adequate nourishment
Finnish:
virheravitsemus
— lack of adequate nourishment
French:
malnutrition
— lack of adequate nourishment
Georgian:
კვების უკმარისობა
(ḳvebis uḳmarisoba)
— lack of adequate nourishment
German:
Unterernährung
— lack of adequate nourishment
German:
Mangelernährung
— lack of adequate nourishment
Greek:
υποσιτισμός
(ypositismós)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Hindi:
कुपोषण
(kupoṣaṇ)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Hungarian:
alultápláltság
— lack of adequate nourishment
Indonesian:
defisiensi nutrisi
— lack of adequate nourishment
Indonesian:
malanutritisi
— lack of adequate nourishment
Italian:
denutrizione
— lack of adequate nourishment
Japanese:
栄養失調
(eiyō shitchō)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Korean:
영양실조
(yeong'yangsiljo)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Malagasy:
tsifanjariantsakafo
— lack of adequate nourishment
Malay:
malnutrisi
— lack of adequate nourishment
Malay:
malpemakanan
— lack of adequate nourishment
Norwegian Bokmål:
underernæring
— lack of adequate nourishment
Norwegian Bokmål:
feilernæring
— lack of adequate nourishment
Norwegian Nynorsk:
underernæring
— lack of adequate nourishment
Polish:
niedożywienie
— lack of adequate nourishment
Portuguese:
desnutrição
— lack of adequate nourishment
Russian:
недоеда́ние
(nedojedánije)
— lack of adequate nourishment
Spanish:
malnutrición
— lack of adequate nourishment
Swedish:
undernäring
— lack of adequate nourishment
Turkish:
yetersiz beslenme
— lack of adequate nourishment
Ukrainian:
недоїда́ння
(nedojidánnja)
— lack of adequate nourishment