surroundings
Britishplural noun
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."
Vocabulary lists containing surroundings
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.
Ezri Konsa was brought in from Aston Villa for £55m and, despite his quality, is still getting used to his new surroundings.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
This enchantment was captured by a 24-year-old Virginia Woolf, who visited an English fen and its surroundings in 1906, and described the area as a “strange, gray-green, undulating, dreaming, philosophizing and remembering land.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
“Thoughtfully positioned to embrace its extraordinary surroundings, the home offers an intimate connection to the coastline while maintaining a level of seclusion that is increasingly difficult to find.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
That could have increased the chances for chemical interactions while also providing some protection from harsh surroundings.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
The biscuits were for her own use, in case the Incorrigibles themselves got carried away and needed to be lured back to more civilized surroundings.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
