blustery
Americanadjective
-
characterized by strong, gusty wind.
It's a blustery day, with a stiff westerly whipping across the valley keeping the temperature on the cool side.
-
full of bravado and empty boasts, threats, or protests.
Without these two arrogant, blustery leaders, the two sides would likely have solved their problems and worked things out.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of blustery
Explanation
Use the adjective blustery to describe weather that brings extremely strong gusts of wind. It's much easier to fly a kite on a blustery day than when there's no wind at all. While this word is frequently used for weather — think blustery October days with leaves blowing and people clutching their hats — it can also describe people who act aggressively or confidently but don't follow through. All that blustery talk about your football team's superiority won't mean a thing when they lose badly yet again. The source of blustery is the noun bluster, "loud or indignant talk with little effect," from a Germanic root meaning "blow violently."
Vocabulary lists containing blustery
Coraline
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The Blind Side
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The War That Saved My Life
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Strong northerly winds will sweep across the country, bringing blustery showers of rain, sleet, and hail, with snow over higher ground.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
Sometimes the blustery weather can distract play, as a takeaway food bag blowing onto the main stadium court during Grigor Dimitrov’s first-round victory against Terence Atmane did on Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2026
It comes off loud, blustery, and overconfident, as if to signal a blasé disengagement with the incredible stakes of the moment.
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2026
She said she was now a "happy woman", having found love again in a new relationship as she rebuilt her life on the blustery French Atlantic island of Ile de Re.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned up.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
