indoors

indoors — adverb

1. to a place that has walls and a roof, such as a house, office, or school; used w

1.adverbB1
Definition

to a place that has walls and a roof, such as a house, office, or school; used when contrasting being inside with being outside.

Example

It started pouring, so the children went indoors to play.

went indoors

Theo kept the cat indoors all winter because of the cold.

kept ... indoors

Common collocations
  • go indoors
  • stay indoors
  • keep indoors
  • come indoors
  • remain indoors
  • head indoors
  • spend time indoors
Synonyms
  • inside

    wider usage — can refer to any enclosed space (box, car, container) and not just buildings; indoors is more specific

Antonyms
  • outdoors

    the direct antonym; outdoors means outside a building in the open air

Grammar Patterns

go indoors

stay indoors

keep [someone] indoors

be indoors

spend time indoors

Usage Note

Often contrasted with outdoors. The word pairs naturally with verbs of motion (go, come, head) or stative verbs (stay, remain, keep). Unlike inside, indoors refers specifically to being within a building (house, office, school) rather than any enclosed space.

Common Mistakes

I stayed indoor all afternoon.
I stayed indoors all afternoon.
indoor is an adjective (indoor pool), while indoors is the adverb form used after verbs.
She went inside the house' (when the emphasis is on being in a building vs. outside).
She went indoors.
Use indoors when the point is the building—outside contrast.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

Indoors, inside, and within all relate to being in an enclosed space, but they differ in scope. Inside is the broadest: it can refer to any container or enclosed area (inside a drawer, inside a car, inside a building). Indoors is narrower — it specifically means inside a building (house, office, school, museum), and it strongly implies a contrast with the outdoors. For example, 'Let's go inside' could mean entering any kind of shelter, while 'Let's go indoors' means entering a building. Indoor (without -s) is an adjective that comes before a noun: indoor pool, indoor games, indoor plants. Within is more formal and often implies being inside boundaries or limits (within the city, within the rules). To sound natural, use indoors when the scene involves a building and the contrast with outside matters: 'It's freezing — let's eat indoors tonight.'

inside ↗indoor ↗within ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • go indoors
  • stay indoors
  • keep indoors
  • come indoors
  • remain indoors
  • head indoors
  • spend time indoors
  • eat indoors

Phrases

  • all indoors
  • both indoors and outdoors
  • from outdoors to indoors

Etymology

Middle EnglishEnglish

Formed in Middle English from in- ('within') + door + the plural ending -s, originally meaning 'within the doors of a house.' The spelling was originally indores or within dores before settling into the modern form indoors.