williwaw
noun
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How Should You Use williwaw?
In 1900, Captain Joshua Slocum described williwaws as "compressed gales of wind … that Boreas handed down over the hills in chunks." To unsuspecting sailors or pilots, such winds might seem to come out of nowhere—just like word williwaw did centuries ago. All anyone knows about the origin of the word is that it was first used by 19th-century writers to name fierce winds in the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America. The writers were British, and indications are that they may have learned the word from British sailors and seal hunters. Where these sailors and hunters got the word, we cannot say.
Synonyms
- ado
- alarums and excursions
- ballyhoo
- blather
- bluster
- bobbery
- bother
- bustle
- clatter
- clutter [chiefly dialect]
- coil
- commotion
- corroboree [Australian]
- disturbance
- do [chiefly dialect]
- foofaraw
- fun
- furor
- furore
- fuss
- helter-skelter
- hoo-ha
- hoo-hah
- hoopla
- hubble-bubble
- hubbub
- hullabaloo
- hurly
- hurly-burly
- hurricane
- hurry
- hurry-scurry
- hurry-skurry
- kerfuffle [chiefly British]
- moil
- pandemonium
- pother
- row
- ruckus
- ruction
- rumpus
- shindy
- splore [Scottish]
- squall
- stew
- stir
- storm
- to-do
- tumult
- turmoil
- uproar
- welter
- whirl
- zoo
Examples of williwaw in a Sentence
Nancy Lord, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Sep. 2022
The dominant use of williwaw throughout the 19th century was in relation to storms around Cape Horn, including the Straits of Magellan.
—David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Sep. 2022
The williwaw gusts swirled thick fog among transport ships off Attu Island, and the waiting infantrymen nervously mulled the name of their landing site: Massacre Bay.
—Alex Horton, Washington Post, 24 May 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'williwaw.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
origin unknown
circa 1842, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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Cite this Entry
“Williwaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/williwaw. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
williwaw
noun
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