indoor
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of indoor
1705–15; aphetic variant of within-door, originally phrase within ( the ) door, i.e., inside the house
Explanation
Use the adjective indoor to describe something that happens or is used inside a building or house. Your indoor furniture is probably a little fancier than your plastic outdoor furniture. Indoor sports are the ones you play inside, like ping pong and floor hockey — beach volleyball is not an indoor sport. Your indoor voice is likewise the one you use in your house or classroom, a quieter voice than when you holler across a parking lot to your friend in his convertible. Indoor, which has been used since the 18th century, is a shortened form of the phrase 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.
This show set the record for the largest ever indoor rock concert attendance of 76,896, which would be broken by Led Zeppelin in the same place two years later.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026
City officials said they chose the threshold because Los Angeles County sees more emergency room visits when indoor temperatures rise above 82 degrees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Former circus bear Bu had spent years confined to a small indoor cage after being forced to perform.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Designed by architecture firm Arquitectonica, with interiors envisioned by Yabu Pushelberg, the tower will feature more than 80,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities spread across five floors.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
The window faces south, and I bet it would be a great place to have a little indoor herb garden.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
