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• southwest
  southwest

  noun

  the point or direction midway between south and west. SW
• Southwest
  Southwest

  noun

  the southwestern part of Britain, esp Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset

southwest

American  

[sauth-west, sau-west] / ˌsaʊθˈwɛst, ˌsaʊˈwɛst /

noun

1. the point or direction midway between south and west. SW

2. a region in this direction.

3. the Southwest, the southwest region of the United States.

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adjective

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

2. coming from the southwest, as a wind.

adverb

1. in the direction midway between south and west.

southwest ¹ British  

/ ˌsaʊˈwɛst, ˌsaʊθˈwɛst /

noun

1. the point of the compass or the direction midway between west and south, 225° clockwise from north

2. any area lying in or towards this direction

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adjective

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

   southwest Italy

2. situated in or towards the southwest

3. (esp of the wind) from the southwest

adverb

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

Southwest ² British  

/ ˌsaʊθˈwɛst /

noun

1. the southwestern part of Britain, esp Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset

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Other Word Forms

• southwestern
  adjective
• southwesternmost
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of southwest

before 900; Middle English; Old English sūthwest. See south, west

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

southwest Southwest

During his suspension in August 2023, Paxton visited St. George, Utah, a small city in the state’s southwest corner.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

The incident comes days after an incident near another military base in southwest England.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Bodrum is perhaps best appreciated from the water, ideally on board a gulet, a wooden sailing vessel common in southwest Turkey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

The prosecution says Noori took pictures of the block of flats Pourmohsen lived in in Brentford, southwest London, in December 2024.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

“My mom was born and raised in southwest London. Burb called Twickenham. She ‘Queen-doctrinated’ me from the womb.”

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

Wide swaths of the Southwest were deluged Sunday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel weakened and moved inland, but coastal communities already battered by high surf emerged with less damage than some officials feared.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

On the draft’s second day, team after team bypassed Mr. Brady for quarterbacks such as Southwest Texas State’s Spergon Wynn and Florida A&M’s Ja’Juan Seider.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The reason that automatic promotion spots are handed to the champions in the West and Southwest is simply because there are more men's football teams registered in those jurisdictions - because more people live there.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Southwest Airlines "is aware of the issue and is engaged with Boeing and the FAA," said a spokesperson for the carrier who added that all newly delivered planes have older software versions installed.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

Yes, she said, he had been transferred somewhere in the Southwest United States.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin