Meanings
plural tumbleweeds
- countableuncountableAny plant which habitually breaks away from its roots once dry, forming a light, rolling mass which is driven by the wind from place to place; as Russian thistle, wild indigo, witch grass, Amaranthus albus, etc.
Synonyms: roly-poly, steppe-witch, wind-witch
- countableuncountableOne of the dried-out, seed-dispersing, globular forms of such plants.
Synonyms: roly-poly, steppe-witch, wind-witch
- attributivecountableuncountableDescribing unwanted silence and inactivity. Often used of a situation when one makes a statement that is ignored or ill-received by one's audience, as the resultant silence is likened to that of a desolate desert with rolling tumbleweeds.
“Why do families argue?” may only induce the tumbleweed response. (Could you answer that question out of the blue?)
2005, Trevor Wright, How to Be a Brilliant English Teacher, →ISBN, page 681 more example
Putting an ad in the local paper that Spock's Beard and Arena are in town will get you a tumbleweed response and some wasted revenue.
2000 January 21, Plsntgrn, “Re: SOAR Budget (A Long Guestimate)”, in alt.music.progressive
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny plant which habitually breaks away from its roots once dry, forming a light, rolling mass which is driven by the wind from place to place; as Russian thistle, wild indigo, witch grass, Amaranthus albus, etc.
nounOne of the dried-out, seed-dispersing, globular forms of such plants.
More synonyms by meaning
nounprickly bushy Eurasian plant; a troublesome weed in central and western United States
nounbushy annual weed of central North America having greenish flowers and winged seeds
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*tūmōną
- Proto-West Germanic*tumbōn
- Old Englishtumbian
- Middle Englishtumben
- Middle Englishtumblen
- Englishtumble
- Proto-West Germanic*weud
- Old Englishwēod
- Middle Englishweed
- Englishweed
- Englishtumbleweed
Translations
Arabic حَشِيشَة مُتَدَحْرِجَة
- حَشِيشَة مُتَدَحْرِجَةplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Catalan estepicursor
- estepicursorplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Chinese Cantonese 風滾草 /风滚草
- 風滾草 /风滚草 (fung¹ gwan² cou²)plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Chinese Mandarin 風滾草 /风滚草, 飛蓬 /飞蓬
- 風滾草 /风滚草 (fēnggǔncǎo)plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- 飛蓬 /飞蓬 (fēipéng)plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Danish vindheks
- vindheksplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Dutch tuimelkruid, stepperoller
- tuimelkruidplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- stepperollerplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Esperanto rultigaro
- rultigaroplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Finnish arokierijä, aavikkokierijä
- arokierijäplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- aavikkokierijäplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- maakieriäinenplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
French virevoltant
- virevoltantplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
German Steppenläufer, Bodenläufer
- Steppenläuferplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- Bodenläuferplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- Steppenrollerplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- Bodenrollerplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Hungarian ördögszekér
- ördögszekérplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Icelandic veltiviður
- veltiviðurplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Irish tom rothlaim
- tom rothlaimplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Italian rotolacampo
- rotolacampoplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Japanese タンブルウィード
- タンブルウィード (tamburuwīdo)plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Korean 회전초
- 회전초 (hoejeoncho)plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Lithuanian druskė
- druskėplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Norwegian Bokmål markløper
- markløperplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Polish biegacz
- biegaczplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Portuguese bola de feno, salsola
- bola de fenoplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- salsolaplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Russian перекати́-по́ле
- перекати́-по́ле (perekatí-póle)plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Spanish estepicursor, estepicursora
- estepicursorplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- estepicursoraplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- planta rodadoraplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Swedish marklöpare, stäpplöpare
- marklöpareplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
- stäpplöpareplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Ukrainian перекоти́по́ле
- перекоти́по́ле (perekotýpóle)plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Welsh chwyn treigl
- chwyn treiglplant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tumbleweed
Cite this entry
tumbleweed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tumbleweed
“tumbleweed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tumbleweed. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tumbleweed,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tumbleweed.
Source: tumbleweed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.