western

adjective west·ern \ ˈwe-stərn \

|Updated on: 20 Aug 2018

Examples: western in a Sentence

Definition of western

1 a : coming from the west

a western storm

b : situated or lying toward the west

islands in the western half of the archipelago

2 or Western : of, relating to, or characteristic of a region conventionally designated West: such as

a : steeped in or stemming from the Greco-Roman traditions

Western culture

b : of or relating to the noncommunist countries of Europe and America

Western powers

c : of, relating to, or characteristic of the American West

Western clothes

western music

3 Western : of or relating to the Roman Catholic or Protestant segment of Christianity

Western liturgies

—

westernmost

play \ˈwe-stərn-ˌmōst\ adjective

See western defined for English-language learners

See western defined for kids

Examples of western in a Sentence

the western part of the state
Old western movies are my favorites.

Recent Examples of western from the Web

Catastrophic mudslides and floods broke out in western Japan from Friday afternoon through early Saturday.

— emily bloch, Teen Vogue, "Floods in Japan Leave at Least 176 People Dead," 11 July 2018
The 27-foot-long hot dog on wheels rolls into Cleves in western Hamilton County for the village's 200th birthday celebration on Saturday.

— nancy daly, Cincinnati.com, "Got relish? Wienermobile rolls into Greater Cincinnati this weekend," 10 July 2018
Several days of heavy rainfall that weather officials have called historic set off flooding and landslides in widespread areas of western Japan.

— mari yamaguchi, The Seattle Times, "Many out of power, water in flood-hit Japan; over 150 dead," 10 July 2018
The sudden surge of floodwaters in this area of western Japan proved deadly for many.

— austin ramzy, New York Times, "Amid Japan’s Flood Devastation, Survivors Dig Out," 9 July 2018
More than 100 people have died and scores are missing in western Japan as record rainfall in recent days triggered landslides and floods that severed power lines and roads, and brought activity to a halt in parts of a manufacturing region.

— mayumi negishi, WSJ, "Japan Flooding, Mudslides Kill More Than a Hundred People," 9 July 2018
The request came after delays in the company’s operations and standard disposal work because the fire at the John's plant in the town of Norway in western Racine County.

— erik s. hanley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Franklin extends landfill hours to accommodate John's Disposal after fire at Racine County plant," 6 July 2018
The fast-moving blaze that broke out Saturday in western Yolo County charred at least 50 square miles of dry brush and threatened more than 100 structures in ranchland, northwest of Sacramento.

— NBC News, "Northern California wildfires cause evacuations," 2 July 2018
The fast-moving blaze that broke out Saturday in western Yolo County charred at least 34 square miles of dry brush and threatened more than two dozen structures in ranchland northwest of Sacramento.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Evacuations ordered as winds fuel Northern California fires," 1 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'western.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of western

Middle English westerne, from Old English; akin to Old High German westrōni western, Old English west

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

western

noun

Definition of western

1 : one that is produced in or characteristic of a western region and especially the western U.S.

2 often capitalized : a novel, story, motion picture, or broadcast dealing with life in the western U.S. especially during the latter half of the 19th century

See western defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of western from the Web

Khali the Killer is a violent crime drama that, based on the actual trailer, seems to draw a lot of influence from westerns and '70s exploitation films.

— samuel axon, Ars Technica, "Sony tries to upload movie trailer to YouTube, posts entire movie instead," 3 July 2018
There’s a fast-moving heist movie/Alistair MacLean runaway-train thriller that takes up an early chunk of the film, and the nods to classic westerns are everywhere.

— ty burr, BostonGlobe.com, "‘Solo’ turns an iconic character’s backstory into a decent B-movie," 22 May 2018
His varied career has taken him from dramas like Cop Land and Girl, Interrupted to westerns like 3:10 to Yuma, but genre fans will know him best as the writer-director of the Wolverine swan song Logan.

— bryan bishop, The Verge, "The director of Logan is reportedly making a Boba Fett movie," 24 May 2018
The 326-acre park, part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, was once Paramount Pictures’ outdoor studio, where countless Hollywood westerns were filmed.

— hadley meares, Los Angeles Magazine, "10 Historic L.A. Places to Visit on a Sunny Day," 14 May 2018
Brokeback Mountain,’’ and sundry westerns, which is helmed by another first-timer: Robin Javonne Smith, making a strong directorial debut after performing in numerous Orphans shows.

— don aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, "It’s a wild, wild West in Landry’s ‘Brokelahomo!’," 2 May 2018
In November, a 7.2-magnitude quake hit western Iran, killing more than 600.

— Fox News, "5.2-magnitude earthquake rattles southern Iran," 2 May 2018
After all, in the 1950s there were all sorts of genres in comic books: horror, funny animals, westerns, romance.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Is Marvel Killing the Movies?," 1 May 2018
From horror movies to westerns, Texas has served as the background for numerous films in just about every genre imaginable.

— william axford, Houston Chronicle, "Dreaming of Hollywood? Visit these former movie sets in Texas," 25 Apr. 2018