indoors

American  

[in-dawrz, -dohrz] / ɪnˈdɔrz, -ˈdoʊrz /

adverb

1. in or into a house or building.

   We stayed indoors during the storm.

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indoors British  

/ ˌɪnˈdɔːz /

adverb

1. (postpositive) inside or into a house or other building

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Etymology

Origin of indoors

1780–90; indoor + -s 1

Explanation

If you're indoors, you're inside a house or other building. On the hottest, most sweltering summer days, you might decide to stay indoors where it's cool. During a typical school day, elementary school students spend most of their time indoors, reading, writing, doing math, singing songs, and painting pictures. When they leave the indoors and go outside for recess, you can say they're outdoors. Indoors, first used around 1800 (sometimes attributed to George Washington), comes from indoor, a shortened form of within door.

Example Sentences

But even as the mayor’s initiative brings more people indoors, a growing number are winding up back on the street.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026

Lucy, who grew up in Llandudno, Conwy county, does not believe cats should be allowed outside alone, no matter where they live, but nor would she want them to stay indoors all day.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

In December, as the program finished its third year, about 40% of the people who had gone indoors — 2,300 of the 5,800 — were back on the street, according to LAHSA’s dashboard.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026

Stuck indoors during the pandemic, Brundage turned to spending long hours on Minecraft, a build-your-own-world videogame that, for many, is a gateway into programming.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Mrs. Frisby had noticed this, of course, both indoors and out.

From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien