Health vs Healthy: What's the Difference?

The words health and healthy are often confused because they look similar. We'll explain the difference.

Health means the state of being free from physical or psychological disease, illness, or malfunction; wellness when used as a noun.

Healthy means enjoying health and vigor of body, mind, or spirit: well when used as an adjective.

A good way to remember the difference is the adjective ends in a Y.

The Difference Between Health vs Healthy

It's easy to confuse health and healthy because they have similar spellings and meaning. However, they are different parts of speech.

Health is a noun. It means "an individual's overall state of well-being and physical fitness." Sometimes, it's used to only mean "good health."

Healthy is an adjective that means "in good health."

What's the correct phrase 'clean bill of health' or 'clean bill of healthy'?

You should use 'clean bill of health'. These phrases are often confused because they are easy to mistype.

Is the phrase: 'healthy appetite' or 'health appetite'?

The phrase is 'healthy appetite.' These phrases are often confused because they are spelled similarly.

Is it 'in good health' or 'in good healthy'?

The correct phrase is 'in good health.' These phrases are easy to confuse because they are spelled similarly.

Some synonyms of health are: well-being, status, fitness, energy.

Some synonyms of healthy are: strong, tough, rosy, fit, hearty.