sirocco

[ suh-rok-oh ]
See synonyms for sirocco on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural si·roc·cos.
  1. a hot, dry, dustladen wind blowing from northern Africa and affecting parts of southern Europe.

  2. a warm, sultry south or southeast wind accompanied by rain, occurring in the same regions.

  1. any hot, oppressive wind, especially one in the warm sector of a cyclone.

Origin of sirocco

1
First recorded in 1610–20; from Italian, variant of scirocco, from Arabic sharq “east”
  • Also sci·roc·co [shuh-rok-oh, suh-] /ʃəˈrɒk oʊ, sə-/ .

Words Nearby sirocco

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sirocco in a sentence

  • The tops of the hills were laden with thunder-clouds, and the turbid atmosphere laboured with the stifling sirocco.

  • The sirocco was driving the clouds in the direction of the Via Farnesina, and the yellow floods shimmered gaily.

    The conquest of Rome | Matilde Serao
  • He observed that their appearance coincided with the return of the sirocco, which blows in Sicily on its western side.

  • It was blowing a sirocco, with thick rain and a heavy sea, nevertheless we all stood on the bridge to watch the hazardous venture.

  • He was perfectly familiar with the various stages of the sirocco, as he had long ago named her outbursts.

    The Beauty | Mrs. Wilson Woodrow

British Dictionary definitions for sirocco

sirocco

/ (sɪˈrɒkəʊ) /


nounplural -cos
  1. a hot oppressive and often dusty wind usually occurring in spring, beginning in N Africa and reaching S Europe

  2. any hot southerly wind, esp one moving to a low pressure centre

Origin of sirocco

1
C17: from Italian, from Arabic sharq east wind

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012