surroundings
Britishplural noun
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."
Vocabulary lists containing surroundings
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.
Nearby fields were littered with broken deckchairs, scraps of fiberglass insulation and pieces of wire fencing ripped apart by the fierce winds that struck the village and its surroundings.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Etiquette is all about being considerate of your surroundings and the people around you,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Amphibians generally do not travel long distances during their lives, and they are highly sensitive to changes in their surroundings.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Despite its sedate rural surroundings, operations at the Category B jail have been far from serene, with people describing a picture of chaos following the first private-to-private transfer of a prison in England and Wales.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
“It’s seven fifty-four,” I said, and then I felt something in my brain click home like a key in a lock, and I turned to take in my surroundings with wide eyes.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
