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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

whirlwind.

A windstorm of limited extent, such as a tornado, dust devil, or waterspout, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air.

9 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈwɜːlwɪnd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈ(h)wɝlwɪnd/General-American
  1. A windstorm of limited extent, such as a tornado, dust devil, or waterspout, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air.

  2. A person or body of objects or events sweeping violently onward.

    figuratively
    Once he got that new scooter he turned into a whirlwind and damaged all the flowers.
    The weeks leading up to the convention were a whirlwind of preparation and hurried activity.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English whirlewind, whirlewynde, equivalent to whirl + wind. Compare Middle Dutch wervelwint, Old Norse hvirfilvindr.

adj/ˈwɜːlwɪnd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈ(h)wɝlwɪnd/General-American
  1. Rapid and minimal.

    not-comparable
    a whirlwind tour, a whirlwind romance
Where this word comes from

From Middle English whirlewind, whirlewynde, equivalent to whirl + wind. Compare Middle Dutch wervelwint, Old Norse hvirfilvindr.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.