vortex

American  

[vawr-teks] / ˈvɔr tɛks /

noun

• vortices,
  plural
• vortexes
  plural

1. a whirling mass of water, especially one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool.

2. a whirling mass of air, especially one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado.

3. a whirling mass of fire, flame, etc.

4. a state of affairs likened to a whirlpool for violent activity, irresistible force, etc.

5. something regarded as drawing into its powerful current everything that surrounds it.

   the vortex of war.

6. (in Cartesian philosophy) a rapid rotatory movement of cosmic matter about a center, regarded as accounting for the origin or phenomena of bodies or systems of bodies in space.

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vortex British  

/ ˈvɔːtɛks /

noun

1. a whirling mass or rotary motion in a liquid, gas, flame, etc, such as the spiralling movement of water around a whirlpool

2. any activity, situation, or way of life regarded as irresistibly engulfing

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vortex Scientific  

/ vôr′tĕks′ /

• vortexes
  plural

1. A circular, spiral, or helical motion in a fluid (such as a gas) or the fluid in such a motion. A vortex often forms around areas of low pressure and attracts the fluid (and the objects moving within it) toward its center. Tornados are examples of vortexes; vortexes that form around flying objects are a source of turbulence and drag.

2. See also eddy

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vortical
  adjective
• vortically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vortexes
  plural
• vortices
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vortex

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin, variant of vertex vertex

Explanation

Think vortex and picture a tornado or whirlpool — swirling around, causing destruction. If you picture a whirlpool spinning and draining like water out of a bathtub, you'll get a pretty good impression of what a vortex looks like. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz found out first-hand the meaning of vortex as she and her house whirled around in the funnel cloud of a tornado. In a figurative sense, vortex can be used to talk about something that seems like it is whirling out of control, all consuming, or chaotic. This may include exam week, your relationships, or your life in general.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vortex vortexes vortices

Until that inevitable conclusion, I’ll be rooting for Max Cady’s campaign against the Bowdens’ vortex of selfishness, which is entirely OK to do.

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026

Even knowing what was happening as the campaign went on, I found it difficult not to get sucked into the vortex.

From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2026

Insufficient airflow control can prevent the vortex from forming, causing the fire to behave more like a conventional burn.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026

The noise - lasting and deafening - rose up and swirled around like a typhoon, gathering up everybody in its vicinity, delirious Hearts folk thrilled to be sucked into the vortex.

From BBC ● May 4, 2026

And this, apparently, was what Hesterfowl was inspecting, stopping every so often to peer with a beady eye into a tiny blue vortex.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Her drawings, which come in sets of two or three near-identical shapes, have "a beautiful intricacy to them" and "look like swirling vortexes", he said.

From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025

Its three suns move and align in such a way as to create regular but random apocalyptic events, from infernal heat to sudden ice ages to gravitational vortexes, that destroy the civilization again and again.

From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2024

Their findings revealed that swimmers can utilize water flow and vortexes more effectively as their speed increases.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2024

Mobulas are known to create vortex formations when feeding or resting, but this is the first time vortexes have been reported in a mating context.

From National Geographic ● Nov. 20, 2023

Little vortexes of dust spiral around the block as I step down from the trailer with my parents.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

Because the researchers find that these small whirlpools appear continuously wherever the magnetic field is sufficiently strong, the vortices could provide a persistent mechanism for twisting the Sun's magnetic field lines.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

The newly discovered vortices could supply part of the answer.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

The phenomenon happens when fluids - in this case hot gases - slide past each other and cause small disturbances to grow into spiralling vortices.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Zooming in on the Sun's surface, the team captured a detailed view of swirling vortices.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

All of this can be explained very well in the atomic model of the world, but only with much greater difficulty using Cartesian vortices.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Related Words

• dust devil
• tornado
• tourbillion
• whirlwind