Meaning & use
western
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
located in or coming from the west part of a place or country.
Grammar: Usually comes before a noun: the western coast. It can also follow a verb: the town is western.
Patterns
- western part of something
- western side
- western country
The western part of the island is much drier.
She grew up in a small western town near the mountains.
A cold wind came from the western hills.
adjectivebefore a noun
relating to Europe and North America, or to their culture and ideas.
Grammar: Often capitalized as Western in this meaning: Western values, Western countries.
Patterns
- Western countries
- Western culture
- Western style
Many Western countries sent doctors to help.
The film mixes Western music with local sounds.
nouncountable
a film or story about cowboys in the American West.
Grammar: Countable: a western, two westerns. Often capitalized as Western in this meaning.
Patterns
- a classic western
- shoot a western
- star in a western
My grandfather loves old westerns.
They watched a western about two brothers on a ranch.
Common combinations
- western hemisphere
- Brazil is in the western hemisphere.
- western world
- The news spread quickly through the western world.
- western medicine
- She studied both western medicine and traditional healing.
- the Wild West
- The film is set in the Wild West.
Synonyms and how they differ
- occidental
- A formal or technical word for 'western'; it sounds old-fashioned in everyday speech.
- westerly
- Used mainly for winds and directions, not for culture or films: a westerly wind.
Opposites
Word family
- west noun
- The direction where the sun goes down.
- westerner noun
- A person from the west or from the western world.
- westernize verb
- To make something more like the culture of Europe and North America.
Commonly confused: western or westward?
western vs westward
Westward means 'toward the west' and is used for movement: they traveled westward. Western describes a place or origin.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
'Western' is an adjective that comes before a noun, so 'the western part' is correct. 'The western of the country' is wrong because 'western' cannot be a noun here, and 'westerly' is used mainly for winds.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “western”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.