Midwestern

Rarely Mid·dle West·ern

[mid-wes-tern]

adjective

1. of or relating to the Midwest.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Midwestern¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

A master of timing with a Midwestern sensibility, Madigan has built a career by keeping it simple: write, tour, record, repeat.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Though she’s made a career playing rom-com heroines, with “Song Sung Blue,” she’s already generating awards buzz for her turn as a guileless Midwestern mom miles away from the glittering women Hudson typically portrays, and one with her fair share of trauma.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In 2024, that hope was pinned on Tim Walz, the flannel-wearing, “Midwestern nice” governor whose small-town roots were supposed to unlock the rural Midwest for a Harris–Walz victory.

Read more on Salon

For example, Schnuck Markets, a Midwestern chain with more than 100 locations, said its prices on frozen turkey are the lowest in at least 15 years.

Read more on MarketWatch

IAM representatives recognized that they were unlikely to garner a similar bonus for midwestern workers in light of the higher cost of living in the Seattle region as compared with St. Louis, leading union representatives to push for $10,000 during the talks.

Read more on Barron's

When To Use

What does Midwestern mean?

Midwestern is an adjective used to describe the region known as the Midwest—the northern central area of the mainland United States.Generally, the boundaries of the Midwestern region 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 Midwestern. Sometimes, states on the fringes, such as Ohio or North Dakota, aren’t considered to be a part of the Midwest.The word Midwestern is commonly used to describe the region and states in that region, but it can also describe the people who live there or things about them, as in Midwestern values. A person from the Midwest can be called a Midwesterner.Example: I always love to travel to the central United States to see the beautiful scenery of the Midwestern states.