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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

Etymology

Origin of western

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

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

Near Kangavar, in western Iran, satellite imagery from Planet Labs in March showed two tunnel entrances and an access road damaged by airstrikes aimed at blocking access to an Iranian missile base.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

As a small child, my repertoire was all country and western, and it was very old country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

She returns to a western Pennsylvania town called Harmony, where she once had “a horrible, endless date over crepes,” to investigate a strike over pay and working conditions at a troubled nursing home.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Arabi estimated that 30 to 40 percent of the site has been damaged, pointing to the collapse of the western arch and its columns.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

The sun was setting, and the western clouds were burning pink.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

Popular goods from Western brands that exited Russia after the invasion, such as Apple iPhones, continued to be on sale, brought in by unofficial resellers in places like Dubai and Hong Kong.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

That’s expected to be the philosophy of O’Leary, who tutored his Western Michigan players by showing them tapes of the Chargers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Kimi K3 gained attention around the world after it was unveiled last week, with many believing it to have narrowed the gap between Western and Chinese AI models.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

"It just really shows us how intelligent orca are," Rebecca Wellard, a scientist at Western Australia's Curtin University who was not involved in the research, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

And now that Russia had been knocked out of the war, the Germans were sending huge numbers of troops to challenge the outnumbered Allies on the Western Front.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman