Midwest

American  

[mid-west] / ˈmɪdˈwɛst /

noun

1. the north-central region of the United States, especially the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

---

adjective

1. Midwestern.

Midwest British  

/ ˈmɪdˈwɛst /

noun

1. the N central part of the US; the region consisting of the states from Ohio westwards that border on the Great Lakes, often extended to include the upper Mississippi and Missouri valleys

---

Usage

What does Midwest mean? The Midwest is the northern central area of the mainland United States. Generally, the boundaries of the Midwest are Canada to the north, the Rocky Mountains to the west, the southern borders of Missouri and Kansas to the south, and the Allegheny Mountains to the east. Sometimes the Midwest is thought of as extending to the eastern border of Illinois or Ohio. The Midwest is one of the United States’ four official regions as defined by the U. S. Census Bureau. Because the Census Bureau doesn’t divide states when defining regions, it sets Ohio as the Midwest’s eastern border. According to the Census, 12 states are located within the Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Americans themselves often differ in terms of which states they consider to be in the Midwest. Sometimes, states on the fringes, such as Ohio or North Dakota, aren’t considered to be a part of the Midwest. Adjective forms of Midwest include Midwestern and Middle Western, but Midwest can also be used as an adjective, as in Midwest states. A person from the Midwest can be called a Midwesterner. Much less commonly, it’s called the Middle West. Example: I always love to travel to the central United States to see the beautiful scenery of the Midwest.

Other Word Forms

• Midwesterner
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Midwest

First recorded in 1890–95; mid- + west

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Midwest

Union Pacific reached a deal with Canadian National Railway on Wednesday, giving the Montreal railroad further access in the Midwest in exchange for CN ending its opposition to the blockbuster merger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

A team of Lego designers took a summer 2018 road trip through the American Midwest, visiting dozens of homes in and around Madison, Wis., and Minneapolis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

The upper Midwest that's closer to the fires was especially affected, with parts of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin all recording air quality readings deep into the "hazardous" range for days.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Toronto and other Canadian cities as well as parts of the US Midwest and Northeast will see the high temperatures that started on Tuesday continue into Wednesday.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Among the maize fields in the Midwest and Southeast, mounds by the thousand stippled the land.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann