westerly
adjective
moving, directed, or situated toward the west.
westerly
1 American
[wes-ter-lee]
/ ˈwɛs tər li /
adjective
-
moving, directed, or situated toward the west.
the westerly end of the field.
-
(especially of a wind) coming from the west.
a westerly gale.
adverb
-
toward the west.
to escape westerly.
-
from the west.
a sharp wind blowing westerly.
noun
-
westerlies
plural
-
a wind that blows from the west.
an occasional westerly that pommeled the island.
-
(used with a plural verb) westerlies, any semipermanent belt of westerly winds, especially those that prevail at latitudes lying between the tropical and polar regions of the earth.
Westerly
2
American
[wes-ter-lee]
/ ˈwɛs tər li /
noun
westerly
British
/ ˈwɛstəlɪ /
adjective
adverb
-
towards or in the direction of the west
-
(esp of the wind) from the west
noun
westerly
Scientific
/ wĕs′tər-lē /
-
A wind, especially a prevailing wind, that blows from the west. The prevailing winds in the middle latitudes are westerlies.
-
See illustration at wind
westerly
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of westerly
1570–80; west + -erly, as in easterly
Vocabulary lists containing westerly
Weather and Climate - Middle School
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Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Barra Golf Club, the most westerly course in Scotland, is best played in hiking boots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Strong westerly winds are expected to become widespread on Saturday evening, with very windy conditions continuing overnight and through much of Sunday.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
The fire in France's southwest Gironde region started with northerly winds, then westerly, then southerly, then easterly, then back again to the south, then the west...
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
How long the heat lasts depend on whether a southerly or westerly wind develops.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
To the west now was open ocean, the full sweep of the Pacific, and the boat pitched and rolled on a twelve-foot westerly swell.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Westerly winds will push milder air across England and Wales, where 20C could again be reached in the east.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The residence—which is located in the exclusive enclave of Watch Hill in Westerly and is known locally as “Holiday House”—currently sprawls across 11,000 square feet and features seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 8, 2025
Researchers studying peatlands found that abrupt movements in the Southern Westerly Winds 15,000 years ago set off a large expansion of these wetland systems.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2025
The woman was discovered in front of the home and arrested on Monday, said Westerly Police Chief Paul Gingerella.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
He had unsnapped her jesses when he saw Leon Longbridge and Peter Westerly approaching the hideout Jon released another rat in Frightful’s mews.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Other research has suggested that these westerlies will strengthen over the next century due to climate change.
From Science Daily ● May 13, 2024
“As we had made it clear before, the airship, used for meteorological research, unintentionally drifted into U.S. because of the westerlies and its limited self-steering capability,” Mr. Liu said.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 30, 2023
China says strong "westerlies" blew the device "with limited self-steering capability" off its planned course.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2023
“The long-range models are forecasting a strong negative NAO, which usually helps push the westerlies and storm tracks along the East Coast farther south than normal,” said Wes Junker, Capital Weather Gang’s winter weather expert.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2022
The winds above 20,000 feet were the usual westerlies and the jet stream was far to the north.
From The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by Edward J. Ruppelt
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