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

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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

See Examples For:

indoors

In places like Palangkarya, the official advice is to stay indoors and avoid going out.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

It urged families to keep children indoors and to use "respiratory protection" if going outside.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

If you want to use plants to create a memorial space indoors on a balcony or window box, think about nearby seating for two which opens up the opportunity for conversation about your loved one.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Their experiments showed that the same basic chemistry responsible for nanoparticle formation outdoors can occur indoors much more rapidly and at much higher concentrations, with potentially important consequences for human exposure.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

The curfew too, at first, was no hardship for us, since it was originally set at 10:00 P.M., long after we were indoors in any case.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

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