southwestward

adj

"southwestward" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“southwestward” is uncommon English (frequency #89,928 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,928
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In or toward the southwest

Key facts for southwestward
PropertyValue
Headwordsouthwestward
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters13
Frequency rank#89,928
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “southwestward” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). southwestward lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

southwestward is uncommon English at frequency #89,928 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In or toward the southwest".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for southwestward, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From southwest + -ward. The correct English form is southwestward, spelled S-O-U-T-H-W-E-S-T-W-A-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    In or toward the southwest

Etymology

From southwest + -ward.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "southwestward"?
"southwestward" is spelled S-O-U-T-H-W-E-S-T-W-A-R-D.
What does "southwestward" mean?
As an adjective, "southwestward" means: In or toward the southwest
What is the origin of the word "southwestward"?
From southwest + -ward. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “southwestward”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-O-U-T-H-W-E-S-T-W-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list