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
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
Trails down into the Canyon from the South Rim remained open on Monday, but staff were warning visitors of the potential dangers, with sudden squalls possible at any time during the Southwest monsoon season.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
The sky is black and echoes with the thunder of monsoon storms.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
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
SAI efforts concentrated near the poles, for example, could disrupt tropical monsoons, while releases near the equator might alter jet streams and interfere with global air circulation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 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
Before the monsoons hit in May, we have to endure April, our hottest month, with temperatures often reaching no degrees—so hot that even the children stay indoors to avoid the sun.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
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.
