Meaning & use
PNW
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Meanings
abbreviationsingularinformal
Short for Pacific Northwest, the northwest corner of the United States, usually Washington and Oregon and sometimes Idaho.
Grammar: Treated as a singular place name, often with the: the PNW.
Patterns
- the PNW
- in the PNW
We moved to the PNW for the mountains and the coffee.
The PNW gets a lot of rain between October and April.
She grew up in the PNW and still misses the evergreen forests.
abbreviationsingularinformal
Used more loosely for the wider region along the Pacific coast, which may include southwestern Canada.
Grammar: A looser, informal use; the exact borders change from speaker to speaker.
Patterns
- PNW culture
- PNW weather
Many PNW hikers cross the border into British Columbia.
PNW salmon is popular in restaurants all over the country.
He writes about PNW weather for a regional magazine.
Common combinations
- the PNW
- The PNW is famous for its tall forests.
- PNW weather
- PNW weather means you always carry a rain jacket.
- PNW hiking
- PNW hiking trails are crowded in summer.
- live in the PNW
- They live in the PNW and ride bikes year-round.
- PNW style
- The cabin has a cozy PNW style with cedar walls.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Pacific Northwest
- This is the full name, appropriate for formal writing, while PNW is shorthand for casual use and online posts.
- Cascadia
- Cascadia is a broader name that can include southwestern Canada and is used for the bioregion or an idea of the region as a separate whole.
- the Northwest
- The Northwest is shorter and can be unclear, since it may mean other regions.
Word family
- Pacific adjective
- relating to the Pacific Ocean
- Northwest noun
- the northwest part of a country or area
- Cascadia proper noun
- a name for the Pacific Northwest bioregion
- Northwesterner noun
- a person from the region
Commonly confused: PNW or NW?
PNW vs NW
NW is the abbreviation for northwest as a direction or address area; PNW names a specific region.
Practice
A traveler says, 'I'm flying to the PNW next week.' Where is the traveler most likely going?
Choose one answer.
PNW stands for Pacific Northwest, which usually means Washington and Oregon. The other pairs are in different regions of the country.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “PNW”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.