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Gust Beyond Wind
You’re no doubt familiar with the breezy gust meaning “a brief burst of wind.” But about a century and a half before that word first appeared in print in the late 16th century, a different gust blew onto the scene. The windy gust likely comes from a synonymous Old Norse word, gustr, whereas the older gust, which refers to the sensation of taste as well as to a feeling of enthusiastic delight, comes ultimately from gustus, the Latin word for “taste.” English speakers eventually mostly dropped that older gust, replacing it in the early 17th century with a similar gustus word borrowed from Italian: gusto is now the go-to word when you want to refer to enthusiastic and vigorous enjoyment or appreciation. You can use it with gusto.
Examples of gust in a Sentence
Cheryl Vari, Cincinnati Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2025
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued heavy snowfall warnings across parts of several Western states, from today through to Monday, with some areas of Wyoming expected to get up to 18 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 60mph.
—Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
In the afternoon and evening, winds could gust up to 21 miles per hour as the system starts to arrive, the NWS said.
—Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gust
Cite this Entry
“Gust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gust. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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