Meanings
comparative further downwind · comparative farther downwind · comparative more downwind · superlative furthest downwind · superlative farthest downwind · superlative most downwind
- not comparableusuallyin the same direction as the wind is blowing
... the aftermath of the dust-storm came up and caught us both, and drove us downwind like pieces of paper.
1888, Rudyard Kipling, Plain Tales from the Hills1 more example
The six birds on their downwind leg have already started to get their "gear down," meaning they have partially rotated their legs forward in a position that will be vertical by the moment of touch down.
2021, Peter Cavanagh, “9. Cranes”, in 100 Flying Birds: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight, →ISBN, page 220 - not comparableusuallypositioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind
I don't want to live downwind from a pig farm.
- not comparableusuallyaeronauticsin the direction opposite that of landing in a traffic pattern
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbwith the wind; in the direction the wind is blowing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishdown-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂weh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂wḗh₁ti
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂wéh₁n̥ts
- Proto-Germanic*windaz
- Proto-West Germanic*wind
- Old Englishwind
- Middle Englishwynd
- Englishwind
- Englishdownwind
Translations
Finnish alatuuleen, myötätuuleen
- alatuuleenin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- myötätuuleenin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- alatuulessapositioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind
German vor dem Wind, mit dem Wind
- vor dem Windin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- mit dem Windin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- in Windrichtungin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- windabgewandtin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- windabwärtsin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- unter dem Windein the same direction as the wind is blowing
Italian sottovento
- sottoventoin the same direction as the wind is blowing
Portuguese sotavento
- sotaventoin the same direction as the wind is blowing
Spanish a sotavento, a sotavento
- a sotaventoin the same direction as the wind is blowing
- a sotaventopositioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind
Thai ใต้ลม
- ใต้ลมpositioned relative to something in such a way that it can be smelled in the wind
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with downwind
Anagrams
Cite this entry
downwind. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downwind
“downwind.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downwind. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “downwind,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downwind.
Source: downwind on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.