inland
Americanadjective
-
pertaining to or situated in the interior part of a country or region.
inland cities.
-
British. domestic or internal.
inland revenue.
adverb
noun
adjective
-
of, concerning, or located in the interior of a country or region away from a sea or border
-
operating within a country or region; domestic; not foreign
noun
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inland
Explanation
Inland means far away from the ocean, or in the very middle of a country. If you were born and grew up in Kansas, you're familiar with inland living. The opposite of inland is coastal. When you travel to the rocky coast of Maine or the soft sandy beaches of Florida, you're far from being inland — you return to your inland home town when you fly back to Gary, Indiana. Inland comes from the Old English inn lond, "land around the mansion of an estate," and it began to mean "land far from the coast" in the 16th century.
Vocabulary lists containing inland
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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.
The shortage of fresh water and a process of salinisation, as seawater pushes inland through the river network, have affected the entire country.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Named after the seaside town, the Clacton constituency also includes relatively affluent Frinton-on-Sea, England's most-deprived neighbourhood of Jaywick, and villages and farms inland.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
After the American Revolution, many settlers moving inland resisted naming new communities after British places.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
CMA CGM said it would impose low-water surcharges on container shipments to Brazil’s inland port of Manaus, with vessel-draft limitations expected to reduce transport capacity on the Amazon River.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Olmsted dismissed the inland sites out of hand as being flat and monotonous and too far from the lake.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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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.