southerly
/ˈsʌðɚli/noun, adjective, adverb
southerly is spelled S-O-U-T-H-E-R-L-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, southerly means “A wind blowing from the south” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of southerly is southerlies.
How many letters and syllables are in southerly?
| Letters | 9: S-O-U-T-H-E-R-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 33,236th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is southerly?
Southerly appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce southerly?
- UK /ˈsʌðəliː/
- US /ˈsʌðɚli/
- Australia /ˈsɐðəliː/
Southerly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-southerly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with southerly?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as southerly from its last stressed vowel (/ʌðəɹli/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of southerly
- southerlies plural
- more southerly comparative
- most southerly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does southerly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A wind blowing from the south.
adjective
- 1
Facing the south; directed towards the south.
a southerly voyage
- 2
Located towards or in the south.
- 3
Coming from the south.
Warm, moist air was brought by southerly winds
adverb
- 1
In a southward direction or position; (towards the) south.
- 2
From the south.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does southerly come from?
From souther + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).