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Gust Beyond Wind
You’re no doubt familiar with the breezy gust meaning “a brief burst of wind.” But about a century and a half before that word first appeared in print in the late 16th century, a different gust blew onto the scene. The windy gust likely comes from a synonymous Old Norse word, gustr, whereas the older gust, which refers to the sensation of taste as well as to a feeling of enthusiastic delight, comes ultimately from gustus, the Latin word for “taste.” English speakers eventually mostly dropped that older gust, replacing it in the early 17th century with a similar gustus word borrowed from Italian: gusto is now the go-to word when you want to refer to enthusiastic and vigorous enjoyment or appreciation. You can use it with gusto.
Examples of gust in a Sentence
Francesca Pica, jsonline.com, 5 Oct. 2025
One strong gust of wind can be enough to flip one of these trailers onto its side.
—Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
After skirting south of Taiwan, Ragasa is expected to move south of Hong Kong early Wednesday, with maximum winds forecast to be just over 200 kph, and gusts up to 250 kph, the equivalent of a strong Category 3 hurricane, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
—Helen Regan, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gust
Cite this Entry
“Gust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gust. Accessed 11 Oct. 2025.
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