scenery
Americannoun
-
the natural features of a landscape
-
theatre the painted backcloths, stage structures, etc, used to represent a location in a theatre or studio
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of scenery
Explanation
Scenery is a word for how a place looks, especially a beautiful, outdoorsy place. Also, scenery is fake background in a play. If you go to a place with mountains, and beautiful trees, and gorgeous skies, then it's got great scenery. Scenery is the stuff you can look at outside. If a place is plain, ugly, or desolate, you might say, "Not much scenery." Also, painters and set designers create scenery for plays. In theater, scenery could represent anything: buildings, trees, or the inside of a house. If a play has a lot of different settings, then it needs a lot of scenery.
Vocabulary lists containing scenery
List 8
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Plot Development
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Grand Canyon Speech"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Mount Bromo, famed for its volcanic scenery, previously caught fire in 2023.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Schiller calls the move “a half-desperate plan to simply change the background scenery of my life for the millionth time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Now the scenery shifts to Mexico City and the hothouse of the iconic Azteca Stadium.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
“I thought American Fork was awesome!” he wrote to a reporter, praising the friendly people and the beautiful scenery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Welcoming the little change of scenery, entire families would regularly snack and picnic in the hallways, leaving behind candied fruits and half-eaten tacos.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
The art works - two dark rural sceneries drawn on brown paper - were authenticated by the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation, which holds the rights on the late painter's works, police said.
From Reuters ● Feb. 17, 2023
While Cirillo’s strength may, at first glance, appear to be his skillful use of unusual but luminous colors, his brilliance is in the range of emotions he is able to evoke with fabricated sceneries.
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2021
"I thought I'd come to the cinema to show support. But to my disappointment, I didn't see much gay love. I only saw natural sceneries," commented one Weibo user.
From BBC ● May 9, 2018
"The event aims to showcase the many natural sceneries we have in Oman," says Saif bin Suba'a Al Rashaidi , director general of the Muscat municipality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2010
There were "big rocks, gulches, and sceneries" of a far better quality down the coast on the way to Wrangell.
From Travels in Alaska by John Muir
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.
