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Synonyms

surroundings

British  
/ səˈraʊndɪŋz /

plural noun

  1. the conditions, scenery, etc, around a person, place, or thing; environment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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."

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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.

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The ceasefire - the longest since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 - allowed hundreds of people trapped in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky and its surroundings to be evacuated.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Its buildings, made of limestone, glass, cedar slats and copper, blend with their surroundings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Colón Angueira’s walks typically begin with this sort of grounding exercise, she explained, helping clients slow down and become more aware of their surroundings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

To investigate whether physical surroundings influence T cell behavior, the researchers studied immune cells collected from humans and mice.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

Danny took a deep breath and looked at their surroundings.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

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