windfall

noun

wind·​fall ˈwin(d)-ˌfȯl 

1

: something (such as a tree or fruit) blown down by the wind

2

: an unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage

Synonyms of windfall

• benefit
• blessing
• boon
• gift

Examples of windfall in a Sentence

They received a windfall because of the tax cuts.

hitting the lottery jackpot was an incredible windfall for the recently laid-off worker

Recent Examples on the Web

But the windfall may be made a little less sweet by the success of Polymarket’s bitter rival, Kalshi, which was most recently valued at $22 billion. —Jack Kubinec, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2026

Eli Lilly is tapping into its obesity windfall again to fortify its pipeline. —Kevin Stankiewicz,morgan Chittum,jeff Marks, CNBC, 20 Apr. 2026

Cue fat windfalls for the traders. —Wailin Wong, NPR, 20 Apr. 2026

Over time, companies may decide to spend some of that windfall on building more production capacity or pipelines to get more oil and gas to market. —Tibor Besedeš, The Conversation, 20 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for windfall

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale

Kids Definition

windfall

noun

wind·​fall -ˌfȯl 

1

: something (as a tree or fruit) blown down by the wind

2

: an unexpected gift, gain, or help