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.
An Americanism first recorded in 1905–10
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He can’t decide whether she is naive or sophisticated, an earthbound Midwestern girl or the incarnation of the eternal feminine.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Indiana’s lack of glamour is a point of pride, rooted in Midwestern practicality and endless flat fields of corn.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026
On a cold January night, he found himself hauling a shipment of meat across several Midwestern states.
From Slate • May 13, 2026
A duplex boom is attracting middle-income earners to the Midwestern city.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
The Lawrence family was pious in the manner of northern Midwestern Lutherans, religion serving as much as the warp and woof of the community fabric as a source of personal succor or theological speculation.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
