environs
plural noun
en·vi·rons in-ˈvī-rənz 
-ˈvī(-ə)rnz
-ˈvī(-ə)rnz 1
: the districts around a city
2
a
: environing things : surroundings
b
: an adjoining region or space : vicinity
Synonyms
- outskirts
- purlieus
- suburbia
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Dislodging the Russians from the environs of the city was one of the great upsets in modern military history—a victory that most analysts in the West hadn’t dared to imagine. 
Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2022 Its wallpaper showed a verdant forest scene, which felt simultaneously pleasant and cruelly ironic, given the desiccated environs of the town outside. Henry Wismayer, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Aug. 2022 Its wallpaper showed a verdant forest scene, which felt simultaneously pleasant and cruelly ironic, given the desiccated environs of the town outside. Henry Wismayer, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2022 In evocative prose, Mishra leads his reader into the claustrophobic inner environs of the desperately wanting. Rafia Zakaria, The New Republic, 5 May 2022 Despite Kenya having one of the highest internet speeds in Africa, only urban centers and their environs enjoy 4G internet speeds. Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 16 Aug. 2022 The city and its environs bear the legacy of that rugged, hardscrabble culture: Two country music stars of the mid–twentieth century, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, were greatly influenced by their time in Bakersfield. Grace Segers, The New Republic, 11 Aug. 2022 In the environs of both cities, there were signs that the Ukrainian defenses were crumbling. Nabih Bulos, Laura King And Tracy Wilkinson, Anchorage Daily News, 22 June 2022 But the movie makes frustratingly little of these environs, just sort of posturing and looking good, as if what matters most to the project is the ability to display its means, the ends be damned. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 20 June 2022 See More
Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2022 Its wallpaper showed a verdant forest scene, which felt simultaneously pleasant and cruelly ironic, given the desiccated environs of the town outside. Henry Wismayer, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Aug. 2022 Its wallpaper showed a verdant forest scene, which felt simultaneously pleasant and cruelly ironic, given the desiccated environs of the town outside. Henry Wismayer, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2022 In evocative prose, Mishra leads his reader into the claustrophobic inner environs of the desperately wanting. Rafia Zakaria, The New Republic, 5 May 2022 Despite Kenya having one of the highest internet speeds in Africa, only urban centers and their environs enjoy 4G internet speeds. Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 16 Aug. 2022 The city and its environs bear the legacy of that rugged, hardscrabble culture: Two country music stars of the mid–twentieth century, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, were greatly influenced by their time in Bakersfield. Grace Segers, The New Republic, 11 Aug. 2022 In the environs of both cities, there were signs that the Ukrainian defenses were crumbling. Nabih Bulos, Laura King And Tracy Wilkinson, Anchorage Daily News, 22 June 2022 But the movie makes frustratingly little of these environs, just sort of posturing and looking good, as if what matters most to the project is the ability to display its means, the ends be damned. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 20 June 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1665, in the meaning defined at sense 1
environs 1 of 2
plural noun
1
as in outskirts
the districts adjacent to a city the city and its environs total about a million in population Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- outskirts
- countryside
- suburbia
- purlieus
- exurbia
- country
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- downtown
- inner city
- midtown
- core city
2
as in vicinity
an adjoining region or space you can get just about any kind of ethnic food in the environs of the university Synonyms & Similar Words
- vicinity
- surroundings
- environment
- backyard
- neighborhood
- purlieus
- vicinage
- surround
3
as in surroundings
the circumstances, conditions, or objects by which one is surrounded growing up in the environs of the big city endowed him with a certain urbanity Synonyms & Similar Words
- surroundings
- environment
- atmosphere
- surround
- climate
- milieu
- terrain
- context
- space
- setting
- ambient
- location
- clime
- place
- contexture
- backdrop
- situation
- mise-en-scène
- medium
- habitat
- element
- background
- status
- geography
- position
- microenvironment
environs
2 of 2verb
as in surrounds
to form a circle around a decaying, impoverished city environed by affluent suburbs Synonyms & Similar Words
- surrounds
- circles
- encircles
- encompasses
- rings
- walls
- embraces
- incloses
- girdles
- girds
- encloses
- wreathes
- compasses
- besieges
- swarms
- circumscribes
- closes in
- entrenches
- intrenches
- besets
- cordons (off)
- hems (in)
- fences (in)
- invests