Tumbleweed
//ˈtʌmbəlwiːd// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots once dry, forming a light, rolling mass which is driven by the wind from place to place; as Russian thistle, wild indigo, witch grass, Amaranthus albus, etc. countable, uncountable
- 2 bushy plant of western United States wordnet
- 3 Describing unwanted silence and inactivity. Often used of a situation when one makes a statement that is ignored or ill-received by one's audience, as the resultant silence is likened to that of a desolate desert with rolling tumbleweeds. attributive, countable, uncountable
"Putting an ad in the local paper that Spock's Beard and Arena are in town will get you a tumbleweed response and some wasted revenue."
- 4 bushy annual weed of central North America having greenish flowers and winged seeds wordnet
- 5 A tan colour, like that of a tumbleweed. countable, uncountable
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- 6 prickly bushy Eurasian plant; a troublesome weed in central and western United States wordnet
- 7 any plant that breaks away from its roots in autumn and is driven by the wind as a light rolling mass wordnet
Example
More examples"About my conlang Vling, maybe I just like the word 'bog'. My other favourite English words are 'whirligig', 'tumbleweed', 'serendipity', 'gargoyle', 'jelly', 'storm', 'ambiance', 'steampunk', 'logogram', 'gazebo', and 'thistle'."
Etymology
From tumble + weed.
Related phrases
More for "tumbleweed"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.