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

Similar to climbers like Daniel Woods and Alex Honnold, Harrington is one of the biggest names in our sport…but not currently a part of the competition milieu.

From Outside Online

Amid the milieu, I embraced old habits quickly, shaking hands with a lawyer who walked up to our table and laughing alongside others as Smith worked the room.

From Washington Post

At its best, Inboden posits that TV can act as social work, and for far too long, we’ve learned from the Kevins of the sitcom milieu, embedding their behavior into our own psyches.

From Washington Post

Starting in 2013, Tebow began working for ESPN as a college football analyst, returning to the milieu that saw his greatest success.

From Washington Post

Maybe he was wearing a Hazmat suit and her mind changed it to a beekeeper outfit to better fit the suburban milieu.

From Time

Except for the love of her sons, the Princess lived in a hostile milieu.

From The Daily Beast

Above all, artists deserve a milieu in which musical talent is celebrated and given some acknowledgement in the media.

From The Daily Beast

She deems her work “craft with modern techniques” and has been welcomed into the milieu despite an unconventional approach.

From The Daily Beast

And in a literary milieu charged by ideology, this means something.

From The Daily Beast

Instead he describes the milieu in which the works were created and received.

From The Daily Beast

She had found herself in a milieu that demoralized her; her mind had become like "the dyer's hand, subdued to what it worked in."

From Project Gutenberg

One has lost his place, another his title, and a third his money, and they say this all proceeds from the 'juste milieu.'

From Project Gutenberg

And Vital showed them a hat of a form and design which was truly expressive of the juste-milieu.

From Project Gutenberg

Every milieu, every nationality seems to spawn, on occasion, a man capable of action above and beyond the call of duty.

From Project Gutenberg

The engaging if unpleasant character, Tarr, is placed in an unpleasant milieu, a milieu very vividly "done."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ambience
• surroundings