This paper investigates semantic extension models and evaluative potential development of the Russian adjective zdorovyj as a linguistic representation of the HEALTH concept within contemporary Russian media discourse practices. The study is based on an analysis of 400 word occurrences extracted from the newspaper corpus of the Russian National Corpus. Eleven basic lexical meanings are identified through lexicographic definitions. Features of non-standard meaning or evaluative transformations of dictionary-based values for the adjective zdorovyj are examined. It is demonstrated that metonymic and metaphorical extensions activate implicatures such as ‘beneficial to health > leading to health > intended for healthy lifestyle or healing’, ‘not spoiled, not decayed; normal > functioning appropriately without violation of relevant requirements and norms, having growth and development potential’. The evaluative capacity of the lexeme zdorovyj expands due to contexts where different types of partial evaluation emerge, including qualitative assessment (zdorovyj = complete), normative judgment (zdorovyj = correct), intellectual appraisal (zdorovyj = reasonable), and utilitarian valuation (zdorovyj = useful).