downwinder means A person (or community) that lives downwind from a potential hazard (such as a nuclear power station). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “downwinder” is a great word
DOWNWINDER — [Noun] A person or community residing in the path of airborne contaminants from a potential hazard, typically a nuclear test site or industrial facility. From the adverb 'downwind' (in the direction the wind is blowing) + the agent noun suffix '-er' (one associated with). First attested in 1982. Unlike an "evacuee" (specifically one removed from danger) or a neutral "resident," a downwinder is defined by passive exposure to an invisible, itinerant threat. It is the taste of a strange dust on the laundry, the specific anxiety of checking the wind, and the long shadow of a silent, drifting plume; to be a downwinder is to have geography write your biography in isotopes.
Etymology
From downwind + -er.
noun
- A person (or community) that lives downwind from a potential hazard (such as a nuclear power station)