monsoon

noun

mon·​soon män-ˈsün 

ˈmän-ˌsün

1

: a periodic wind especially in the Indian Ocean and southern Asia

2

: the season of the southwest monsoon in India and adjacent areas that is characterized by very heavy rainfall

3

: rainfall that is associated with the monsoon

monsoonal

män-ˈsü-nᵊl 

ˈmän-ˌsü-

adjective

Examples of monsoon in a Sentence

floods caused by summer monsoons

Recent Examples on the Web

Chennai in southeastern India came very close to running out of water in 2019, as the monsoon rains failed and and reservoir levels plummeted. —Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2025

Heavy rain and associated flooding are all too common in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific typhoon belt and experiences monsoon winds. —Chad De Guzman, Time, 21 Sep. 2025

My daughter's jacket has already kept her warm through a stormy hike in Boulder and tropical monsoons in Mumbai. —Karthika Gupta, Travel + Leisure, 21 Sep. 2025

That makes 2025 the eighth-driest monsoon to date, with Phoenix once again likely to finish below normal. —Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

obsolete Dutch monssoen, from Portuguese monção, from Arabic mawsim time, season

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for monsoon

• attune
• baboon
• balloon
• bassoon
• buffoon
• cartoon
• cocoon
• festoon
• gaboon
• harpoon
• immune
• impugn

Kids Definition

monsoon

noun

mon·​soon män-ˈsün 

1

: a periodic wind in the Indian Ocean and southern Asia

2

: the rainy season that accompanies the southwest monsoon

3

: rainfall that is associated with the monsoon season