Synonyms

surroundings

British

/ səˈraʊndɪŋz /

plural noun

the conditions, scenery, etc, around a person, place, or thing; environment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Explanation

Your surroundings are the things all around you. When you park your car in a huge lot, paying attention to your surroundings can help you find the car again later. You can use the noun surroundings to mean the nearby environment — all of the objects close by, as well as the location itself — and also the circumstances or conditions where you are. When someone builds a house, the surroundings will help determine which direction it will face and how many windows it will have. Surroundings stems from surround, "be all around," but originally "flood or overflow."

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Vocabulary lists containing surroundings

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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.

"People come from all over the world. They say, 'what beautiful surroundings', which it is."

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023