Word.ws English Dictionary

windward

/ˈwɪndwə(ɹ)d/

windward adjective: towards the wind, or the direction from which the wind is blowing.

Adjective

windward (comparative more windward, superlative most windward)

  1. Towards the wind, or the direction from which the wind is blowing.
    • The windward boat must give way to the leeward boat.
    Synonyms:
    aweather
  2. On the side exposed to the wind.
    • the windward bedroom
    Synonyms:
    aweather
  3. (figuratively) In a position of advantage or superiority.
    • […] but while they own what G. Fox hath written, and that he writ it with a perfect spirit: I say untill they do make some Recantation or Retractation: or shew the Reasons why they doe not, H. Norton who keeps more plainly to his Principles is to windward of them, and the Foxians do but strip...1872, Publications of the Narragansett Club: George Fox digg'd out of his burrowes, page 257

Adverb

windward (not comparable)

  1. In a direction from which the wind blows, against or towards the wind.
    • We beat our way windward.

Noun

windward

  1. The direction from which the wind blows.
    • A vessel has the weather gage of another when she is to windward of her. A weatherly ship is one that works well to windward, making but little leeway.1840, Richard Henry Dana, Two Years before the Mast
    • To shield our tent from hurricane-force winds, we built a wall of snow blocks to windward, cutting the blocks with one of the catamaran's paddles.1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 592
  2. The side receiving the wind's force.

windward meaning in Tamil and Kannada

windward in Tamil

காற்று வரும் திசைப்பகுதி

windward in Kannada

ಗಾಳಿಗೆದುರಾಗಿ, ಗಾಳಿಬೀಸುವ ದಿಕ್ಕಿನ

Examples of windward in a sentence

  • The current sets to the north; the tide sets to the windward.
  • A vessel has the weather gauge of another when on the windward side of it, and the lee gauge when on the lee side of it.
  • His code was the end justified the means with men who operated windward of the law.

All 12 example sentences with windward

Synonyms of windward

Antonyms

Forms of windward

comparativemore windward
superlativemost windward
alternative formwind'ard

Origin of windward

From wind + -ward.

Words formed from windward

Phrases with windward

Questions about windward

What does windward mean?
Windward means towards the wind, or the direction from which the wind is blowing.
What is windward in Tamil?
Windward in Tamil is காற்று வரும் திசைப்பகுதி. See Windward meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is windward?
Windward can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
How do you pronounce windward?
Windward is pronounced /ˈwɪndwə(ɹ)d/.

Words near windward in the dictionary

  1. windup radios
  2. windups
  3. Windvocate
  4. Windvocates
  5. Windwalker
  6. windward
  7. Windward Antilles
  8. Windward Islander
  9. Windward Islanders
  10. Windward Islands
  11. Windward Isles

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: windward (page history and authors); windward (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); windward (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-windward.wav.

Cite this entry: “windward.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/windward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.