ambient
Americanadjective
-
of the surrounding area or environment: The temperature in the display case was 20° lower than the ambient temperature.
Your voice mail picked up some ambient noise from airplanes and lawn mowers.
The temperature in the display case was 20° lower than the ambient temperature.
-
completely surrounding; enveloping.
Many pollutants are present in ambient air in relatively low concentrations.
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creating a certain reaction or mood, often a subconscious one, by being wherever people tend to be.
ambient advertising on a shopping cart.
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pertaining to or noting sounds that create a peaceful and relaxed atmosphere.
I stream ambient ocean sounds to help me fall asleep.
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pertaining to or noting close and constant social contact and communication fostered by the internet or the use of digital devices.
social media sites that enable ambient intimacy and awareness.
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to the immediate surroundings
the ambient temperature was 15°C
-
creating a relaxing atmosphere
ambient music
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ambient
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin ambient- (stem of ambiēns, present participle of ambīre “to go around”), equivalent to amb- ambi- + -i- “go” + -ent- -ent
Explanation
Ambient is an adjective used to describe an aspect of the environment that completely surrounds you, but in a mellow way, like ambient music played softly throughout a restaurant, or the ambient orange glow during a setting sun. Ambient describes some pervasive quality of the surrounding environment, like the ambient lighting in a movie theater, or the ambient temperature of a room. Most times when you’re hearing silence, you’re hearing some ambient noises too, like the hum of a refrigerator or the whistle of a breeze. Usually ambient describes a quiet or peaceful quality, but it can be aggressive too, like the ambient drone of war planes flying above that you can hear no matter where you hide.
Vocabulary lists containing ambient
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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Around and Around: Ambi
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 27–April 2, 2021
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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.
And they facilitate the ambient sociability that gives bricks-and-mortar a chance against e-commerce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Matthew Robert Cooper’s unnerving ambient score bleeds into the relentless dink-dink-dink of the Jeep’s strobing hazard lights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
He found that raising the barbecue from the sand kept it closer to the ambient temperature.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The team located the magma through ambient noise tomography, a technique commonly used by seismologists to examine structures hidden below the surface.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
One image of Phil fades into another—the ambient light in the shots shifts and casts shadows across his brow, his cheekbones, his lips.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
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.
