Midwestern

Rarely Mid·dle West·ern

[mid-wes-tern]

adjective

1. of or relating to the Midwest.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Midwestern¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

It kind of reminds you of the independence of these big Midwestern newspapers, which is different from now.

From Los Angeles Times

The Paper, from the team behind the US adaptation of The Office, follows the same documentary crew that once filmed office supplies company Dunder Mifflin as they turn their cameras on a struggling Midwestern newspaper, the Toledo Truth-Teller.

From BBC

For example, one Midwestern professor’s deductions were scrutinized not for tax compliance but to distract him from organizing protests at the Democratic convention.

From Slate

It was the stand-in for a Midwestern town in Tom Hanks’ “That Thing You Do” and for a southern burg in “Big Mama’s House,” among many others.

From Los Angeles Times

You can hear Seberg attempting to mask her natural Midwestern accent with a more mid-Atlantic flavor popular among performers at that time — and then also speak French on top of that.

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does Midwestern mean?

Midwestern is an adjective used to describe the region known as the Midwest—the northern central area of the mainland United States.Generally, the boundaries of the Midwestern region are Canada to the north, the Rocky Mountains to the west, the southern borders of Missouri and Kansas to the south, and the Allegheny Mountains to the east. Sometimes the Midwest is thought of as extending to the eastern border of Illinois or Ohio.The Midwest is one of the United States’ four official regions as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Because the Census Bureau doesn’t divide states when defining regions, it sets Ohio as the Midwest’s eastern border. According to the Census, 12 states are located within the Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.Americans themselves often differ in terms of which states they consider to be Midwestern. Sometimes, states on the fringes, such as Ohio or North Dakota, aren’t considered to be a part of the Midwest.The word Midwestern is commonly used to describe the region and states in that region, but it can also describe the people who live there or things about them, as in Midwestern values. A person from the Midwest can be called a Midwesterner.Example: I always love to travel to the central United States to see the beautiful scenery of the Midwestern states.