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Glite Dictionary
west-northwest

west-northwest

2 2.5
A compass direction halfway between west and northwest
  • noun
  • /ˌwɛstˌnɔrθˈwɛst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : oeste-noroeste
  • A slower west-northwest path is expected today in western Pennsylvania, with a turn into western New York tonight.
  • moved west-northwest
  • storm is moving west-northwest
  • west-northwest horizon

Examples

  • The bad ones came straight in, moving roughly in a west-northwest direction, and almost all of those hit Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

    Blog text (22)

  • It lies just 12 degrees high in the west-northwest an hour after the sun goes down in early June.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The National Hurricane Center states that Sandy is moving toward the west-northwest.

    Blog text (13)

  • Russian destroyer, bearing west-northwest, 20 knots.

    Black Sea (2014)

  • Approximately three hundred yards to the west-northwest from our present position are twenty-two single-story auto-erected structures of contemporary human manufacture.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • TD25W was moving to the west-northwest at 13 knots (15 mph/24 kph).

    Blog text (29)

  • The storm is moving west-northwest at about 9 miles per hour.

  • Look for the planet low in the west-northwest no later than about 45 minutes after sunset.

  • At dusk, Venus is still very low in the west-northwest during June.

Synonyms

WNW
vswest-northwest
1 4.1

A compass point halfway between west and northwest

is the full hyphenated name rather than an abbreviation
northwest by west
vswest-northwest
  • Specialized
7.5

A compass direction slightly west of northwest, about 292 degrees

is an alternate traditional name for the same bearing rather than the numeric label

Surface Forms

west-northwest singular
west-northwests plural

Morphology

west-northwest = west + northwest (transparent) = west + northwest

A straightforward hyphenated compound: the meaning is literally the midpoint/direction between 'west' and 'northwest', so learners can deduce it from the components.

Etymology

West-northwest comes from joining west and northwest to name the compass point halfway between them. It literally means 'between' west and northwest, about 292.5°, so it tells you the exact direction a sailor or hiker should follow.