surroundings

British  

/ səˈraʊndɪŋz /

plural noun

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

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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."

Example Sentences

Inside, they found lavish surroundings, wedding-banquet style spreads of biryani, kebabs and gulab jamun, along with gourmet coffee blended from Brazilian and Ethiopian beans.

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

Donovan has taken full advantage of the home’s surroundings, regularly sharing videos of the garden on his Instagram account, including a January 2023 clip of a flock of robins visiting a birdbath on the grounds.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

Instead of depending entirely on large and complex equipment, future missions could use agile robots to quickly survey their surroundings and identify high-priority targets.

From Science Daily • Apr. 8, 2026

Peanut cannot smell, but caregivers say that limitation does not appear to be stopping him from adjusting to his new surroundings.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

When they were gone, Ekon took in his new surroundings.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Related Words

• ambience
• atmosphere
• background
• climate
• environment
• environs
• location
• milieu
• mise en scène
• neighborhood
• setting