veranda
Americannoun
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verandas
plural
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Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. Also verandah. a large, open porch, usually roofed and partly enclosed, as by a railing, often extending across the front and sides of a house; gallery.
noun
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a porch or portico, sometimes partly enclosed, along the outside of a building
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a canopy sheltering pedestrians in a shopping street
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of veranda
1705–15; < Hindi baraṇḍā, barāmdā < Persian bar āmadaḥ coming out (unless the Hindi word is < Portuguese varanda, Spanish baranda railing, balustrade; cf. bar 1)
Compare meaning
How does veranda compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If you're lazing around on a long, airy porch that runs along the outside of your house, you are on a veranda. The word veranda likely derived from the Portuguese word varanda, meaning "long balcony or terrace." Extending along the outside of a building, this architectural structure has a roof and usually opens up to the outside. A veranda is a common feature on houses at a beach resort or in other warm climates. They provide shade but still allow you to sit outside and enjoy the scenery. You might have a party on your veranda in the summer.
Vocabulary lists containing veranda
I Am Malala
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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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:
The men sit on rugs beneath the wide boughs of a tree, while two women sit on mats in the shade of a nearby veranda, as goats and chickens roam the compound.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2025
When the dust settles, a small, pink rectangular building with veranda posts appears at the venue’s west end, a disco ball hanging on its porch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025
Outside, residents can enjoy the warm New Orleans weather while lounging on the covered veranda or soaking in the saltwater pool.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2025
The agency published a video in which it showed security officials detaining a man in jeans and a black shirt who was sitting at a veranda outside a restaurant in central Moscow.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
Finding a shady place on the veranda, he leaned up against a column and began to shine his father’s shoes.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Today, it also runs a restaurant and hotel with six guest rooms in the main house and five modern cabins with floor-to-ceiling windows opening to private verandas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Soldiers were still securing the streets of the kibbutz, once neatly lined with palm trees, banana plants and single-storey houses with verandas.
From Reuters ● Oct. 10, 2023
Makeshift pool arcades flourish in bars, verandas in front of shops, and just about any open space.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 26, 2022
It’s wrapped in verandas and shaded by a gnarly 300-year-old pine tree.
From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2022
This spring was a fire without thrift in the grand literature of the seasons the Meecham family had watched from their verandas.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
