easterly
Americanadjective
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moving, directed, or situated toward the east.
an easterly course.
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(especially of a wind) coming from the east.
an easterly gale.
adverb
-
toward the east.
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from the east.
noun
-
easterlies
plural
adjective
adverb
-
towards or in the direction of the east
-
from the east
an easterly wind
noun
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A wind, especially a prevailing wind, that blows from the east. The trade winds in tropical regions and the prevailing winds in the polar regions are easterlies.
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See illustration at wind
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of easterly
1540–50; obsolete easter eastern ( see easterling) + -ly
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.
See Examples For:
The fire in France's southwest Gironde region started with northerly winds, then westerly, then southerly, then easterly, then back again to the south, then the west...
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
As high pressure shifts towards the end of the week, an easterly wind will pick up and cool down eastern areas of the UK.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Instead of the usual easterly winds that blow from east to west, westerly winds develop.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026
Like previous tests, the company plans to launch the Starship spacecraft on an easterly trajectory during a roughly hourlong flight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
"A cell is a cell. Some under easterly Rock make this one seem a sunlit garden. One day perhaps I'll show them to you."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
However, not all easterlies are made equal and in this case, the air that will be heading our way is not as cold was it was in 2018.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2025
The researchers found that changes in regional wind patterns — from warm-inducing westerlies to cold-bringing easterlies — were linked to both the warming and cooling periods the peninsula has undergone.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2016
On Wednesday morning, with easterlies blowing, he went out to recheck his lines for the prevailing wind.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2010
For 84 days, Vihlen bobbed and tossed in the prevailing easterlies, subsisted on little else but bread and water, yet kept his sea legs and once happily waved greetings to a curious U.S. submarine.
From Time Magazine Archive
But he had had frequent experience with the vagaries of easterlies, and he knew that a summer easterly, when it comes, holds menacing possibilities.
From Blow The Man Down A Romance Of The Coast - 1916 by Holman Day
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.
