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• western
  western

  adjective

  lying toward or situated in the west.
• Western
  Western

  adjective

  of, relating to, or characteristic of the West as opposed to the Orient

western

American  

[wes-tern] / ˈwɛs tərn /

adjective

1. lying toward or situated in the west.

   our company's western office.

2. directed or proceeding toward the west.

   a western migration.

3. coming or originating from the west, as a wind.

4. (often initial capital letter) of, pertaining to, living in, or characteristic of the West, especially the western U.S..

   a Western ranch.

5. (usually initial capital letter) Occidental.

   to adopt Western dress.

6. (usually initial capital letter) of or relating to the non-Communist countries of Europe and the Americas.

   Western trade agreements.

7. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Western Church.

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noun

1. (often initial capital letter) a story, movie, or radio or television play about the U.S. West of the 19th century.

2. western sandwich.

3. a person or thing from a western region or country.

western ¹ British  

/ ˈwɛstən /

adjective

1. situated in or towards or facing the west

2. going or directed to or towards the west

3. (of a wind, etc) coming or originating from the west

4. native to, inhabiting, or growing in the west

5. music See country and western

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Western ² British  

/ ˈwɛstən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the West as opposed to the Orient

2. (formerly) of, relating to, or characteristic of the Americas and the parts of Europe not under Communist rule

3. of, relating to, or characteristic of the western states of the US

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noun

1. a film, book, etc, concerned with life in the western states of the US, esp during the era of exploration and early development

Other Word Forms

• anti-Western
  adjective
• nonwestern
  adjective
• pro-Western
  adjective
• unwestern
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of western

before 1050; 1905–10 western for def. 8; Middle English, Old English westerne, equivalent to west west + -erne -ern

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Explanation

Anything western comes from the west, like a western wind that blows your hair sideways. Western also refers to anything from that half of the world — North America and Europe — as well as old cowboy movies. Although western literally refers to anything in the west, like that wind or a direction on a compass, the Western world refers to the culture of the USA and Europe. The other is Eastern society, which includes Asia. They aren’t as popular now, but kids used to watch Westerns, also known as cowboy movies. If you go to a store that sells Western wear, you might walk out with a ten-gallon hat and red cowboy boots. Yeehaw!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

western Western

This western stretch of the Columbus metropolitan area, the fastest-growing and most economically vibrant region in the Buckeye State, is not coincidentally home to its largest South Asian populations.

From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2026

France's weather service, Météo-France, has issued an orange-level wind warning for five western departments from Thursday evening into Friday.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

John Anderson, a country western star known for his traditional tunes and twangy voice, has died.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

The record was set as Perseverance made its way toward a location called "Idubi," traveling through an area beyond the western rim of Jezero Crater known as "Lac de Charmes."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026

They had reached the fork in the road: the western fork led to Ingria, and the other road to the frozen expanses of the eastern kingdoms.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Growing tourism, meanwhile, pumped $50 billion into the local economy last year, according to official data, as curious Han Chinese and foreigners alike came to experience China’s Western frontier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Russia has been under massive Western sanctions since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

Maybe competing for a championship in this top-heavy Western Conference doesn’t seem possible for Doncic and the Lakers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

Storm Boelo will follow hard on its heels on Saturday, with another yellow weather warning issued, this time for high winds, for the whole of mainland Scotland, the Western Isles and Orkney.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

But before I knew it, our entire party was sitting around the campfire like a gang of renegades in an old Western.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

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