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• interior
  interior

  adjective

  being within; inside of anything; internal; inner; further toward a center.
• Interior
  Interior

  noun

  (in titles) the domestic or internal affairs of any of certain countries

interior

American  

[in-teer-ee-er] / ɪnˈtɪər i ər /

adjective

1. being within; inside of anything; internal; inner; further toward a center.

   the interior rooms of a house.

   Antonyms:

   exterior

2. of or relating to that which is within; inside.

   an interior view.

3. situated well inland from the coast or border.

   the interior towns of a country.

4. of or relating to the inland.

5. domestic.

   interior trade.

6. private or hidden; inner.

   interior negotiations of the council.

7. pertaining to the mind or soul; mental or spiritual.

   the interior life.

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noun

• interiors
  plural

1. the internal or inner part; inside.

   Antonyms:

   exterior

2. Architecture.

   1. the inside part of a building, considered as a whole from the point of view of artistic design or general effect, convenience, etc.

   2. a single room or apartment so considered.

3. a pictorial representation of the inside of a room.

4. the inland parts of a region, country, etc..

   the Alaskan interior.

5. the domestic affairs of a country as distinguished from its foreign affairs.

   the Department of the Interior.

6. the inner or inward nature or character of anything.

7. Mathematics. the largest open set contained in a given set, as the points in a circle not including the boundary.

interior ¹ British  

/ ɪnˈtɪərɪə /

noun

1. a part, surface, or region that is inside or on the inside

   the interior of Africa

2. inner character or nature

3. a film or scene shot inside a building, studio, etc

4. a picture of the inside of a room or building, as in a painting or stage design

5. the inside of a building or room, with respect to design and decoration

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adjective

1. of, situated on, or suitable for the inside; inner

2. coming or acting from within; internal

3. of or involving a nation's domestic affairs; internal

4. (esp of one's spiritual or mental life) secret or private; not observable

Interior ² British  

/ ɪnˈtɪərɪə /

noun

1. (in titles) the domestic or internal affairs of any of certain countries

   Department of the Interior

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Synonym Usage

See inside.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interiority
  noun
• interiorly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• interiors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of interior

First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin, comparative adjective equivalent to inter- “inward” + -ior comparative suffix; see exterior

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Explanation

Interior commonly refers to the inside of something. When house hunting you might find that the outside of the house is run down, but the interior rooms beautifully renovated. If you design the color scheme of a room and pick our furnishings for it, you are an interior designer. If you delve into a characters feelings and emotions, you might describe what you're looking at as their interior. A place that lies far inland from a coast or border is said to lie in the interior of a country. If you talk to yourself inside your mind, you are said to be having an interior monologue.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interior Interior interiors

There were more than 770 arrests on Saturday, roughly half as many as the previous week's protests, the French interior ministry said.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

More than 770 people were arrested during weekend protests in France, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

He made up for this outbreak of separatism by lobbying, before and after the war, to dig the Erie Canal, which would bind the interior and the coast of the country together.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

The distinguishing features of the Qatari airplane are its size, comfort, and the luxury of its interior furnishings, points Trump has gushed over.

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026

Access to the snail’s interior was gained by a child-sized tunnel, maybe two feet high, at the base of the tail.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

A lawyer representing protesters at Lisbon's housing camps, Ricardo Sa Fernandes, said Sunday he would file a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Luis Neves and the national police chief for abuse of power.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

A onetime Interior secretary named Albert Fall was convicted of taking bribes from Doheny and another oilman for no-bid drilling there, and though Doheny himself was acquitted twice, his reputation never recovered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

It was used in October 2005 by then-French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, to describe young delinquents and rioters during a tense visit to the housing projects of Paris suburb Argenteuil.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

For decades, the park has been maintained by the Interior Department and National Park Service.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

It fell to me to fly to Washington, D.C., to address the United States Department of the Interior Committee on National Historic Landmarks.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

Asked about the collision of styles that marked his restaurant interiors, Overton once explained it this way: “I wanted something timeless.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

The Cheesecake Factory is indeed known for its ostentatious interiors.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

This technology now allows scientists to examine the three-dimensional interiors of many different materials with a level of precision that was previously unavailable.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026

To give the interiors a soulful look, Donnelly mixes new furnishings with vintage estate sale finds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

Beyond it, houses display their interiors to the night.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

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Related Words

• internal
• remote

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