Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
landward

landward

6.7
Toward the land and away from the sea
  • adverb
  • /ˈlændwərd/
translation icon : hacia la tierra
  • The river flowed landward, carving new channels through the landscape.
  • migrate landward

Examples

  • As we hiked up the trail, the path turned landward, away from the coastline.

  • Concurrently, the landward assault was repelled as well, and still Malta refused to fall.

  • Dead palm trees swayed landward over the road.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Composed primarily of loose sand, barrier islands are the most dynamic land masses along the open-ocean coast and have been retreating landward for thousands of years in response to slowly rising sea levels.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The waves crashed against the rocks as they washed landward after the storm.

Synonyms

ashore
vslandward
111 1.5

Onto the land from the sea or other water

is about heading farther onto dry ground rather than stopping at the water's edge
inshore
vslandward
1 3.5

Toward the land from the sea

is used for travel farther onto dry ground away from the water's edge
landwards
vslandward
  • UK
6.8

Toward the land and away from the sea

is the same meaning but appears as an alternative written form
shoreward
vslandward
3.9

Moving toward the shore from the water

is broader, pointing toward dry ground farther from the water's edge
coastward
vslandward
4.6

Moving toward the shore

is similar but signals moving farther onto dry ground away from the water
shoreside
vslandward
3.4

Toward or at the edge of a body of water

is used for movement away from the water's edge toward the interior

Antonyms

seaward
1 4.7

The direction toward the sea from land

Surface Forms

landward positive

Morphology

landward = land (transparent) = land + ward

The meaning 'toward the land' is directly derived from 'land' + directional suffix '-ward', which is transparent to learners.

Etymology

The word landward is made from land meaning 'the ground' and the ending -ward meaning 'toward', just like in seaward or homeward. So, landward means moving or looking 'toward the land' rather than the sea.