Meanings
plural dust devils · alternative dustdevil · alternative dust-devil
- A small atmospheric vortex appearing in clear, dry conditions, made visible by swirling dust (or dirt or sand) picked up from the ground.
A dust devil may look harmless, but a large one can overturn a car.
1 more example
Near-synonyms: whirlwind, whirl, sandspout, sand pillar, willy willy (Australia)
Synonyms: dirt devil, whirlwind, whirl, sandspout, sand pillar, willy willy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small atmospheric vortex appearing in clear, dry conditions, made visible by swirling dust (or dirt or sand) picked up from the ground.
Origin
Translations
Catalan remolí de sorra, dimoniet
- remolí de sorraa swirling dust in the air
- dimonieta swirling dust in the air
- folleta swirling dust in the air
Chinese Mandarin 塵暴 /尘暴
- 塵暴 /尘暴 (chénbào)a swirling dust in the air
Danish støvhvirvel
- støvhvirvela swirling dust in the air
Dutch stofhoos, stofduivel
- stofhoosa swirling dust in the air
- stofduivela swirling dust in the air
Finnish pölypyörre
- pölypyörrea swirling dust in the air
French tourbillon de poussière
- tourbillon de poussièrea swirling dust in the air
German Kleintrombe, Staubteufel
- Kleintrombea swirling dust in the air
- Staubteufela swirling dust in the air
Greek ανεμοστρόβιλος, σκονοδιάβολος
- ανεμοστρόβιλος (anemostróvilos)a swirling dust in the air
- σκονοδιάβολος (skonodiávolos)a swirling dust in the air
Hindi बवंडर
- बवंडर (bavaṇḍar)a swirling dust in the air
Hungarian porördög
- porördöga swirling dust in the air
Indonesian langkisau, lesus
- langkisaua swirling dust in the air
- lesusa swirling dust in the air
- setan debua swirling dust in the air
Japanese 塵旋風, ダストデビル
- 塵旋風 (jinsenpū)a swirling dust in the air
- ダストデビル (dasuto debiru)a swirling dust in the air
Korean 회오리바람
- 회오리바람 (hoe'oribaram)a swirling dust in the air
Latin vertigo, vortex
- vertigoa swirling dust in the air
- vortexa swirling dust in the air
Norwegian Bokmål støvvirvel
- støvvirvela swirling dust in the air
Polish trąba pyłowa
- trąba pyłowaa swirling dust in the air
Portuguese redemoinho, pé-de-vento
- redemoinhoa swirling dust in the air
- pé-de-ventoa swirling dust in the air
Russian пылево́й вихрь, пы́льный вихрь
- пылево́й вихрь (pylevój vixrʹ)a swirling dust in the air
- пы́льный вихрь (pýlʹnyj vixrʹ)a swirling dust in the air
- песча́ный вихрь (pesčányj vixrʹ)a swirling dust in the air
Spanish torbellino de polvo, remolino de polvo
- torbellino de polvoa swirling dust in the air
- remolino de polvoa swirling dust in the air
- tolvaneraa swirling dust in the air
Swahili kimbunga
- kimbungaa swirling dust in the air
Cite this entry
dust devil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dust%20devil
“dust devil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dust%20devil. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dust devil,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dust%20devil.
Source: dust devil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.