Following habits intended to support health and socially responsible conduct.
Reach for it when describing a lifestyle built around healthful restraint
The clean-living runner protects sleep and avoids tobacco without judging her teammates.
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm |
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| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
everyday
Fits when habits support physical or mental wellbeing
Careful Healthy is evidence-sensitive and says nothing about restraint from alcohol or drugs.
warm
Fits when the lifestyle feels healthful and socially approved
Careful Wholesome carries moral judgment and can sound prudish.
professional
Fits when choices are made with health effects in mind
Careful Awareness alone does not establish consistently health-supporting behavior.
professional
sober
Fits when abstinence from intoxicants is the relevant fact
Careful Sober should not be used as a broad moral ranking of someone's lifestyle.
formal
Fits when deliberate moderation in food or drink is central
Careful Abstemious is rare and narrower than an overall clean-living routine.
literary
Fits when measured restraint across appetites suits elevated prose
Careful Temperate sounds archaic and may suggest climate rather than conduct.
clean-living athlete
The clean-living athlete still treated rest days as part of training.
clean-living lifestyle
A clean-living lifestyle need not become a test of moral worth.
clean-living habits
His clean-living habits included regular meals and an early bedtime.
Keep in mind
Clean-living can mean healthy habits or moral respectability. Use it cautiously because it can stigmatize illness, addiction, poverty, or culturally different habits.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Updated
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