milieu

[mil-yoo, meel-, mee-lyœ]

noun

plural

milieus ,

plural

milieux .

1. surroundings, especially of a social or cultural nature.

   a snobbish milieu.

   Synonyms: setting, sphere, background

milieu

/ miljø, ˈmiːljɜː /

noun

1. surroundings, location, or setting

Word History and Origins

Origin of milieu¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French, equivalent to mi (from Latin medius “middle”; medium ) + lieu lieu

Word History and Origins

Origin of milieu¹

C19: from French, from mi- _mid ¹ + lieu place

Synonym Study

See environment.

Example Sentences

At home in this milieu, Parker mastered the art of grassroots promotion, of pulling in large crowds by plastering the town with loud, hyperbolic placards.

From Los Angeles Times

“Hollywood High” also makes its way out of the white middle-class milieu where so many teen movies are set.

From Los Angeles Times

In such a milieu, Hine’s troubling 1908 photographs would easily disappear, perhaps seizing a moment but soon evaporating into the visual miasma that floods the zone daily.

From Los Angeles Times

Like his milieu, she said the characters of her memoir, which takes place in Brooklyn from 2016 to 2020, lived in acute awareness of the “ideological bankruptcy” of their time.

From Los Angeles Times

This plea stands in stark contrast to our authoritarian milieu in the United States, which is defined by active contempt for the weak.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ambience 
• surroundings