Meanings
plural windfalls
- Something that has been blown down by the wind.
- uncountableThe act of something being blown down by wind.
The danger from windfall is greatest to trees developed in dense stands, which are tall and have slender stems, and increases with the age of the stand.
1911, United States. Forest Service, Bulletin, numbers 94-103, page 15 - figurativelyA sudden large benefit; especially, a sudden or unexpected large amount of money, as from lottery or sweepstakes winnings or an unexpected inheritance or gift.
One of six siblings who’d been raised by a single mother, the client had earned a windfall of around $400,000 after going viral in 2021.
2023 October 19, Brendan I. Koerner, “Watch This Guy Work, and You’ll Finally Understand the TikTok Era”, in Wired, →ISSN2 more examples
Businessmen rushed to get every last commodity aboard a departing ship, hoping for a windfall once the world realized these would be the very last sacks of flour available, thus driving up prices.
2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential CourageIn addition to following the lead of Newcastle and Crystal Palace in making this a season of glory for clubs who rarely, if ever, win a trophy, Tottenham are also set to benefit from a £100m windfall after qualifying for next season's Champions League.
2025 May 21, Simon Stone, “Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Manchester United”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA sudden large benefit; especially, a sudden or unexpected large amount of money, as from lottery or sweepstakes winnings or an unexpected inheritance or gift.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishwindfal
- Englishwindfall
From Middle English windfal, wyndfall, equivalent to wind + fall. Cognate with Middle High German wintval, wintfal, German Windfall.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἕρμαιον
- ἕρμαιον (hérmaion)sudden large benefit
Bulgarian ветрова́л, падалина
- ветрова́л (vetrovál)something that has been blown down by the wind
- падалина (padalina)fruit fallen off a tree naturally
- неочакван късмет (neočakvan kăsmet)sudden large benefit
Chinese Mandarin 意外之財 /意外之财, 暴利
- 意外之財 /意外之财 (yìwài zhī cái)sudden large benefit
- 暴利 (bàolì)sudden large benefit
Finnish tuulenkaato, pudokas
- tuulenkaatosomething that has been blown down by the wind
- pudokasfruit fallen off a tree naturally
- jättipottisudden large benefit
French aubaine
- aubainesudden large benefit
German Windbruch, Fallobst
- Windbruchsomething that has been blown down by the wind
- Fallobstfruit fallen off a tree naturally
- warmer Regensudden large benefit
- Geldregensudden large benefit
Hungarian lehullott gyümölcs, talált pénz
- lehullott gyümölcsfruit fallen off a tree naturally
- talált pénzsudden large benefit
Icelandic hvalreki
- hvalrekisudden large benefit
Indonesian pisang terkubak
- pisang terkubaksudden large benefit
Irish toradh leagtha, amhantar
- toradh leagthafruit fallen off a tree naturally
- amhantarsudden large benefit
Italian cuccagna
- cuccagnasudden large benefit
Japanese 僥倖
- 僥倖 (gyōkō)sudden large benefit
Māori tāiha, kurapae
- tāihasomething that has been blown down by the wind
- kurapaesudden large benefit
Norwegian vindfall, nedfallsfrukt
- vindfallsomething that has been blown down by the wind
- nedfallsfruktfruit fallen off a tree naturally
- uventet hellsudden large benefit
Polish wiatrołom, spad
- wiatrołomsomething that has been blown down by the wind
- spadfruit fallen off a tree naturally
- gratkasudden large benefit
Russian па́данец, ветрова́л
- па́данец (pádanec)something that has been blown down by the wind
- ветрова́л (vetrovál)something that has been blown down by the wind
- вале́жник (valéžnik)something that has been blown down by the wind
- бурело́м (burelóm)something that has been blown down by the wind
- па́данец (pádanec)fruit fallen off a tree naturally
- опа́дыш (opádyš)fruit fallen off a tree naturally
- па́данка (pádanka)fruit fallen off a tree naturally
- па́далица (pádalica)fruit fallen off a tree naturally
- неожи́данная уда́ча (neožídannaja udáča)sudden large benefit
Spanish fruta caída, breva
- fruta caídafruit fallen off a tree naturally
- brevasudden large benefit
Swedish fallfrukt
- fallfruktfruit fallen off a tree naturally
Thai ลาภลอย
- ลาภลอยsudden large benefit
Turkish devlet kuşu, talih kuşu
- devlet kuşusudden large benefit
- talih kuşusudden large benefit
Welsh ffrwyth cwymp
- ffrwyth cwympfruit fallen off a tree naturally
Cite this entry
windfall. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/windfall
“windfall.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/windfall. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “windfall,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/windfall.
Source: windfall on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.