It’s what rustles the trees, pushes clouds across the sky, and makes your umbrella flip inside out. In German, wind is called der Wind—a short, strong word you’ll hear in daily weather reports and everyday speech.
The noun Wind means wind, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. Whether you're planning your day, listening to the news, or talking about climate and energy, you'll run into this word often.
It’s a masculine noun, so we say der Wind.
Pronunciation
Wind is pronounced [VINT].
- The W sounds like an English V,
- The -ind rhymes with “mint,”
- The stress is on the only syllable: Wind.
The word is crisp and simple—just like a breeze.
Example sentences:
Der Wind weht heute sehr stark.
The wind is blowing very hard today.
Sie liefen gegen den Wind.
They walked against the wind.
Nuance and usage tips
Wind means exactly what it does in English: moving air. But like in English, Germans also use it metaphorically. When a situation becomes difficult or people face opposition, they might say:
- Gegenwind bekommen – to encounter pushback or resistance
- Der Wind hat sich gedreht – the wind has turned (i.e., the situation has changed)
It also appears in many compound nouns:
- Rückenwind – tailwind (literal or figurative support)
- Gegenwind – headwind
- Windstärke – wind strength (used in weather forecasts)
- Windenergie – wind energy
- Windrad – wind turbine
Grammatical case examples:
Nominative:
Der Wind kommt aus Norden.
The wind is coming from the north.
Accusative:
Ich spüre den Wind im Gesicht.
I feel the wind on my face.
Dative:
Bei dem Wind fliegen die Hüte weg.
In this wind, hats go flying.
Genitive:
Die Richtung des Windes hat sich geändert.
The direction of the wind has changed.
Masculine case pattern: der, den, dem, des
Word variations and language tidbits
Wind belongs to a family of weather words that are common in daily life and media. It often appears alongside:
- der Sturm – storm (stronger and chaotic)
- die Brise – breeze (gentle and light)
- die Luft – air (the substance itself, not moving)
The verb wehen (to blow) is used to describe what the wind does:
- Der Wind weht kalt.
The wind is blowing cold.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Wind
🎥 Learn Wind and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/
Alternate translations note:
There are no alternate translations for Wind in the context of weather—it’s the standard term. If you’re talking about a breeze, you might say Brise, and for stronger conditions, Sturm. But when it comes to general moving air, Wind is the right word.
Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Wirklichkeit means? How about Wissenschaft? Find out!