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• southeast
  southeast

  noun

  the point or direction midway between south and east. SE
• Southeast
  Southeast

  noun

  the southeastern part of Britain, esp the London area

southeast

American  

[south-eest, sou-eest] / ˌsaʊθˈist, ˌsaʊˈist /

noun

1. the point or direction midway between south and east. SE

2. a region in this direction.

3. (initial capital letter) the southeast region of the United States.

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adjective

1. lying toward, situated in, or directed toward the southeast.

2. coming from the southeast, as a wind.

adverb

1. in the direction midway between south and east.

southeast ¹ British  

/ ˌsaʊθˈiːst, ˌsaʊˈiːst /

noun

1. the point of the compass or the direction midway between south and east, 135° clockwise from north

2. any area lying in or towards this direction

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adjective

1. (sometimes capital) of or denoting the southeastern part of a specified country, area, etc

2. situated in, proceeding towards, or facing the southeast

3. (esp of the wind) from the southeast

adverb

1. in, to, towards, or (esp of the wind) from the southeast

Southeast ² British  

/ ˌsaʊθˈiːst /

noun

1. the southeastern part of Britain, esp the London area

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Other Word Forms

• southeastern
  adjective
• southeasternmost
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of southeast

before 900; Middle English southest, Old English sūthēast. See south, east

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

southeast Southeast

SAVANNAH, Ga.—Bill Howard’s family has earned a living from the piney woods of southeast Georgia since 1898, when his great-grandfather and seven great-great uncles started cutting lumber with a portable sawmill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The first band of heavy showers may reach the southeast coast of England around midnight, and then cross Greater London before moving northwards into the home counties and East Anglia.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Overall traffic in southeast Europe, which includes Greek airspace, has risen about 40 percent from 2019, according to Eurocontrol, the air navigation safety organisation.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

The fire started Aug. 9 in the Los Padres National Forest southeast of the Loma Vista neighborhood, quickly scorching 400 acres and prompting evacuation orders, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

“About 4:30 a loud explosion came from the southeast and shook the ground way out here—like a big bomb in the distance. The mountain must’ve blown again. We picked up the pace.”

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

For the past 36 years, a firm cap on car ownership has kept Singapore largely free of the gridlock that marks life in every other Southeast Asian metropolis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

At close to two-and-a-half hours with a story that stretches from Harlem to Southeast Asia, “American Gangster” hardly seems like Small Ridley at first glance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Many of the biggest Muslim consumer markets are in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia, where China has spent years building ports, railways and commercial ties.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

In tropical regions such as Southeast Asia, ancient DNA is often extremely poorly preserved.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

I look around as people take seats in our segregated sections—South Asian, African American, Arab, Southeast Asian.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed