southwestern

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled south-western

US /ˌsaʊθˈwɛstɚn/ UK /ˌsaʊθˈwɛstən/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
of, in, or toward the southwest

Adobe architecture defines the southwestern landscape.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · of, in, or toward the... southwesterly

Opposites

northeastern

Word family

Derived forms southwesterner

Related forms southwest southwesterly south west

Etymology

From southwest + -ern (as in western); southwest combines Old English sūþ ('south') and west ('west').

sūþ Old English west Old English

View etymology graph ->

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Describing Qualities

# southwestern

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˌsaʊθˈwɛstɚn
**IPA (UK):** ˌsaʊθˈwɛstən

## Meanings
1. of, in, or toward the southwest

## Examples
- Adobe architecture defines the southwestern landscape.

## Synonyms
- southwesterly

## Antonyms
- northeastern

## Derived Forms
- southwesterner

## Related Forms
- southwest
- southwesterly
- south
- west

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sūþ
- Root: west

## Etymology
From southwest + -ern (as in western); southwest combines Old English sūþ ('south') and west ('west').

## AI Etymology
Southwestern comes from southwest + -ern (as in western); southwest combines Old English sūþ ('south') and west ('west'). The historical chain includes Old English sūþ and Old English west. The quoted older senses, "south" and "west", supply the semantic anchors for southwestern. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word southwestern carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "of, in, or toward the southwest". English derivatives include southwesterner; related English forms include southwest, southwesterly, south, and west. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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southwestern

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