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.
Stewart came from humble origins, however: He was born on July 13, 1940, in a West Yorkshire industrial town, and raised in a house lacking an indoor toilet or running hot water.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 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
Cap off your day with a play at the Blackfriars Playhouse, about a mile away, which is home to the American Shakespeare Center, the only replica of Shakespeare’s original indoor theater in London.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
The woman, who had worked at Beekse Bergen park for 40 years, was caring for two Persian leopards in an indoor facility when she was attacked on Saturday.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
The tower room had once been an indoor garden, with small trees in wooden pots.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
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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.
