indoors
Americanadverb
adverb
Etymology
Origin of indoors
1780–90; indoor + -s 1
Explanation
If you're indoors, you're inside a house or other building. On the hottest, most sweltering summer days, you might decide to stay indoors where it's cool. During a typical school day, elementary school students spend most of their time indoors, reading, writing, doing math, singing songs, and painting pictures. When they leave the indoors and go outside for recess, you can say they're outdoors. Indoors, first used around 1800 (sometimes attributed to George Washington), comes from indoor, a shortened form of within door.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When the power cuts out after dark in Vientiane, families wander outside to avoid the stifling heat indoors, using cell phones to light their way.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
A suggestion for schools: As summer vacation comes to a close, students will likely transition to spending most of their time indoors, looking at screens.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Light shaking, generally noticeable indoors by many and strong enough to rattle dishes and windows, was felt in Oakland and nearby San Leandro and Alameda.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
The health minister has urged residents in affected areas to stay indoors and wear face masks to protect against respiratory, eye, and skin risks.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
We throw ourselves on the snow and swing like mad, and then we’re all so cold, we run shrieking indoors.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
