milieu

[ mil-yoo, meel-; French mee-lyœ ]

noun

, plural mi·lieus, French mi·lieux [mee-, lyœ].

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

Surely Leonardo’s erotic and emotional subjectivity within a repressive milieu was not nothing in shaping his worldly explorations — especially as a “disciple of experience” — but Burns doesn’t go there.

From Los Angeles Times

But much of the action takes place in ordinary rooms and pubs, often dimly lighted as befits a milieu cloaked in secrecy and insularity.

From Los Angeles Times

Did you feel at home in the rock milieu of the ’80s?

From Los Angeles Times

“It wasn’t as if I was like, ‘I’m going to be making five sex-worker films,’” Baker says when asked about his constant returning to this particular milieu.

From Los Angeles Times

"No doubt there will be some debate over Leigh’s qualifications to portray this particular milieu, a middle-class and upper working-class sector of London’s Afro-Caribbean community," noted Screen Daily's Jonathan Romney in his review.

From BBC

Related Words

• ambience
• surroundings