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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

See Examples For:

southwest Southwest

At Hampton Court Palace, head gardener Graham Dillamore strode across the burnt beige grass in the spectacular formal gardens southwest of London, laid out in the 17th century.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Syria has condemned an Israeli attack on the village of Beit Jinn, southwest of the country's capital Damascus, which officials said hit a civilian vehicle and left several people injured.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

KD1 — which is inscribed on her leg band — hails from the Prado Basin, some 70 miles southwest of Big Bear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

In Cali, in the southwest, Jorge Leon described the pain of "starting all over again" as he walked beside a yellow truck loaded with his belongings.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Already a flight of four had been seen over the southwest shores of Hosk, not alighting but spying out the sheepfolds, barns, and villages.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

February temperatures experienced by snowbirds in Florida and the Southwest reveal little about what’s in store when August heat is blazing.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

When “It Ends” premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2025, it was not exactly the runaway darling of the year’s programming.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

A scare occurred Saturday at Los Angeles Southwest College in San Pedro, where a loud noise triggered a stampede out of the stadium.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

She followed that up with “Traps,” in 2013, a slim suspense novel that chronicles the lives of four women in the American Southwest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

All of Southwest Asia’s founder crops preempted domestication of any of their close relatives throughout the whole expanse of western Eurasia.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond