Definition of milieu
milieus
ormilieux
play \-ˈyə(r)(z), -ˈyüz, -ˈyœ(z); -ˌyü(z)\: the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops : environment
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Examples of milieu in a Sentence
Theirs was a bohemian milieu in which people often played romantic musical chairs. —Edmund White, New York Review of Books, 12 Feb. 2009
People in France admire the United States, and much of what passes for anti-Americanism is limited to the intellectual milieu of Paris. —Jonathan Alter et al., Newsweek, 29 May 2000
She might stay home, might marry and live as a housewife. And if her milieu does not sanction such a solution, there are, she knows, milieux which do. —David Mamet, Jafsie and John Henry: Essays, 1999
Certainly there are very few American milieus today in which having read the latest work of Joyce Carol Oates or Richard Ford is more valuable, as social currency, than having caught the latest John Travolta movie or knowing how to navigate the Web. —Jonathan Franzen, Harper's, April 1996
They're caught in their own hazy milieu—working, smoking, talking, drinking. —Gerri Hirshey, Rolling Stone, 12 Nov. 1992
young, innovative artists thrive in the freewheeling milieu that a big city offers
Recent Examples of milieu from the Web
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In the greater DOE milieu, Dabbar is very well known, says Daniel Poneman, president and CEO of Centrus Energy Corp. in Bethesda, Maryland, who from 2009 to 2014 served as DOE’s deputy secretary of energy.
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After three years with Lauder, King realized the corporate world was not her milieu and instead decided to once again launch a boutique lipstick brand, this time under the name Lipstick Queen.
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Women enjoy much more prominence in the milieu of low-budget independent movies, where the stories are more focused on ordinary people with real-world problems, but those movies usually attract small audiences.
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And to that point, war-torn and traumatized places just like Mosul and Raqqa are exactly the kinds of milieus where militant groups like ISIS are born and bred.
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Ahead of the annual Essence Festival (June 30-July 8), Billboard takes a tour of the trendy new locales in and around the Big Easy milieu. 1.
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A few years ago Shabaka Hutchings, a rising British tenor saxophonist, discovered a milieu of kindred spirits on South Africa’s vibrant jazz scene.
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In the current political milieu, Mari’s work has taken on a new importance, blurring preconceived paradigms of gender and sexuality and celebrating humanity in all its forms.
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The Florida setting, which is always ripe for cheap laughs, comes off more cartoonish than contextual, and the overall violent milieu of the show is more of a drag than a believable backdrop.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'milieu.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
milieu Entered English in the 1800s
The etymology of milieu comes down to "mi" and "lieu." English speakers learned the word (and borrowed both its spelling and meaning) from French. The modern French term comes from two much older French forms, mi, meaning "middle," and lieu, meaning "place." Like so many terms in the Romance languages, those Old French forms can ultimately be traced to Latin; "mi" is an offspring of the Latin medius(meaning "middle") and "lieu" is a derivative of "locus" (meaning "place"). English speakers have used "milieu" for the environment or setting of something since at least the mid-1800s, but other "lieu" descendants are much older. We've used both "lieu" itself (meaning "place" or "stead," as in "in lieu of") and "lieutenant" since the 14th century.
Synonym Discussion of milieu
MILIEU Defined for English Language Learners
milieu
playDefinition of milieu for English Language Learners
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: the physical or social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops
Medical Dictionary
Medical Definition of milieu
milieus
ormilieux
\-ˈyə(r)(z), -ˈyüz; -ˌyü(z), -lyœ̅(z)\playLearn More about milieu
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See words that rhyme with milieu Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for milieu Spanish Central: Translation of milieu Nglish: Translation of milieu for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of milieu for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about milieu
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