monsoon
Americannoun
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monsoons
plural
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the seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter.
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(in India and nearby lands) the season during which the southwest monsoon blows, commonly marked by heavy rains; rainy season.
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any wind that changes directions with the seasons.
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any persistent wind established between water and adjoining land.
noun
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a seasonal wind of S Asia that blows from the southwest in summer, bringing heavy rains, and from the northeast in winter
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the rainy season when the SW monsoon blows, from about April to October
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any wind that changes direction with the seasons
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A system of winds that influences the climate of a large area and that reverses direction with the seasons. Monsoons are caused primarily by the much greater annual variation in temperature over large areas of land than over large areas of adjacent ocean water. This variation causes an excess of atmospheric pressure over the continents in the winter, and a deficit in the summer. The disparity causes strong winds to blow between the ocean and the land, bringing heavy seasonal rainfall.
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In southern Asia, a wind that is part of such a system and that blows from the southwest in the summer and usually brings heavy rains.
Discover More
The Asiatic monsoon brings heavy rains to Southeast Asia in spring and summer.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of monsoon
First recorded in 1575–85; from obsolete Dutch monssoen, from Portuguese monção, earlier moução, from Arabic mawsim “season,” noun derivative of wasama “to mark”; cf. mazuma ( def. ), Sivan ( def. )
Explanation
Monsoon is the term for the wind that carries heavy rains to southern Asia, and the rains themselves. During a monsoon, people wait indoors for it to stop. Although people in other parts of the world sometimes describe heavy rainfall as a monsoon, the real thing only occurs in Asia. Monsoon describes both the rain that drenches India and Southeast Asia in summer and winter, and the wind that carries that rain. The rains are so heavy that they can lead to floods that wash away entire towns.
Vocabulary lists containing monsoon
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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.
See Examples For:
Central American countries are already grappling with drought, while Asian nations are experiencing severe disruptions to monsoon rains, resulting in damage to crops in both regions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The rain is from a monsoon pattern, Sullivan said, and is not related to Hurricanes Polo and Odalys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Under a makeshift roof offering protection from the monsoon rains, the pair are slowly uncovering the giant neck of a fossil they hope to confirm soon as Thailand's newest dinosaur.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
For ordinary monsoon floods, India may have "roughly 12 hours to two days of warning", according to Sanyal, depending on how quickly the water travels downstream.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The floor under her shoes was slick with monsoon scum.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
This includes drought across parts of the Amazon, Indonesia and Australia, disrupted monsoons in India, and shifting rainfall throughout the tropics.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Google’s broader weather tracking efforts encompass everything from wildfires to monsoons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
Ocean-derived moisture can travel across continents within large weather systems including atmospheric rivers, monsoons and tropical storms.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2025
Weather experts say the monsoons in South Asia at times appear to have become stronger because they are increasingly coming into contact with another weather system, the westerly disturbance.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
It certainly wasn’t a driving rain, like you see during the monsoons.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
