windswept
Adjective: 1. Exposed to or swept by strong winds: Describes a place, landscape, or person that is unprotected from the wind and often shaped or affected by it. 2. Appearing as if blown by the wind: Describes an untidy or disordered appearance, typically of hair or vegetation, as if caused by constant wind.
The adjective "windswept" is used to describe the condition of being exposed to and affected by the wind. It often conveys a sense of being barren, wild, rugged, or naturally disordered due to this exposure. - It typically modifies nouns like coast, moor, hill, plain, hair, or look. - It is often used in descriptive writing about nature, geography, or a person's appearance.
- The windswept cliffs stood defiant against the ocean storms.
- They walked across the windswept plateau, their coats pulled tight against the gale.
- After the boat ride, her windswept hair was tangled and full of salt spray.
- Few trees can survive on that windswept island.
- Figurative Use: Can be used metaphorically to describe something that seems bare, exposed, or shaped by harsh forces.
- The politician's windswept promises offered little shelter from economic reality.
- In Literature and Description: Frequently used to set a mood of isolation, wild beauty, or desolation.
- The novel is set on a windswept and lonely farm on the Yorkshire moors.
- Windblown (adj): Very similar in meaning, often used interchangeably, especially for disordered hair or sand/dust moved by the wind.
- The windblown sand stung their faces.
- Bleak (adj): While not a variant, it is a common synonym in contexts emphasizing barrenness and exposure.
- Exposed (adj): A more general term for being unprotected, often from wind or weather.
- Blowy
- Breezy
- Windy
- Unprotected
- Open
- Sheltered
- Calm
- Protected
- Windless
Note: "Windswept" itself is not commonly part of phrasal verbs or idioms. It is primarily a descriptive adjective. - To be swept by the wind: A phrase describing the action that creates a windswept condition. - The headlands are constantly swept by the wind from the north.
- open to or swept by wind
- windswept headlands