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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  

[south-west, sou-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

In the UK, the Met Office weather agency said it was the hottest May day on record, with temperatures hitting 34.8C at Kew Gardens, southwest London -- a full two degrees above the previous high.

From Barron's • May 25, 2026

For much of high school, Savannah Gannaway figured she would work after graduation at the gas station five doors down from her house in Fair Play, a town of 600 in southwest Missouri.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 10, 2026

Three Woodland Hills residents are competing for the open 3rd District City Council seat in the southwest San Fernando Valley after term limits force out incumbent Bob Blumenfield.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

"We are the green ribbon that goes around the coast of the southwest," he said.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

Several months later a geologist named Bill Bonnichsen from the Idaho Geological Survey got in touch and told him that the ash matched a volcanic deposit from a place called Bruneau-Jarbidge in southwest Idaho.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson