Meaning & use
gentle wind
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Meanings
nouncountable
a light, soft breeze that blows steadily and is not strong enough to cause harm.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a gentle wind' or 'gentle winds' when talking about more than one.
Patterns
- a gentle wind blew
- a gentle wind from the sea
- the gentle wind died down
A gentle wind moved the curtains by the open window.
We sat on the grass and enjoyed the gentle wind on our faces.
The gentle wind from the sea kept the afternoon cool.
nouncountablefigurative
a mild, steady influence or tendency that pushes events in a certain direction.
Grammar: Used figuratively, usually singular with 'a': 'a gentle wind of change'.
Patterns
- a gentle wind of change
- a gentle wind of reform
A gentle wind of change is blowing through the old company.
After the election, a gentle wind of reform reached the schools.
Word forms
| plural | gentle winds |
|---|
Common combinations
- a gentle wind blows
- A gentle wind blows across the empty field.
- a gentle wind stirs something
- A gentle wind stirred the leaves on the trees.
- a cool gentle wind
- A cool gentle wind came through the valley at dusk.
- feel a gentle wind
- You can feel a gentle wind here even on hot days.
- a gentle wind picks up
- By evening a gentle wind picked up from the west.
Synonyms and how they differ
- breeze
- The usual single word for a light wind; it is more common and more natural than 'gentle wind' in everyday speech.
- zephyr
- A literary or old-fashioned word for a soft gentle wind; it sounds poetic, so it fits poems better than weather reports.
- draft
- Mainly American: a current of air indoors, often through a window or door, rather than wind outdoors.
Opposites
Word family
- windy adjective
- with a lot of wind blowing
- windily adverb
- in a way that shows a lot of wind or empty talk
- windiness noun
- the quality of being windy
Commonly confused: gentle wind or wind (verb)? gentle wind or air?
gentle wind vs wind (verb)
The noun 'wind' (moving air) is pronounced with a short i, but the verb 'wind' (to turn a handle or coil something) is pronounced to rhyme with 'find'.
gentle wind vs air
'Air' is the mixture of gases around us; a 'wind' is air that is actually moving, and a 'gentle wind' moves only softly.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'gentle wind' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A gentle wind blew through the open window' matches the meaning of a soft, light breeze. Option 1 contradicts itself because a gentle wind is not strong. Option 2 uses 'wind' as a verb with the wrong form and meaning. Option 3 confuses wind (moving air) with gas, which is not described this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gentle wind”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.