1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

surrounded

verb

past tense of surround
as in encircled
to form a circle around she was surrounded by cheering fans within moments of scoring the winning goal

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of surrounded Lenin and Trotsky believed that their Bolshevik Revolution would succeed only when the Soviet Union was surrounded by other Communist states. — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026 Leary said that once the riders were surrounded on the bridge, police took them into custody without incident. — Assistant Editor, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026 Rather than chart her full life, the Hindi-language film, starring Sneha Kumari in the title role, isolates a single 48-hour standoff in which 2,000 armed police and paramilitary personnel surrounded a village to capture her, then 17 years old. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026 Three seconds later, I was surrounded by hideous monsters who were probably nice kids before the local NBC news devoted the feature story on their prime-time show Weekend to an in-depth study of English punk. — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 Members of Skokie’s Fire Department, along with police officers, emergency service operators and public safety staff participated in an honor guard procession Friday, surrounded by dozens of local residents. — Claire Murphy, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026 Like Snow White, she is surrounded by woodland creatures — rabbits, badgers even a deer — all frozen in time. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 11 Sep. 2026 In Vegas, Dorofeyev was surrounded by the likes of Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl. — Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026 The piny woods swallowed the red bricks surrounded by spirals of razor wire and fence. — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surrounded
  1. encircled
  2. circled
  3. encompassed
  4. ringed
  5. embraced
Verb
  • Instead of gold watches, silver handcuffs encircled their wrists.
    — Jonny Hallam, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The pair left their vehicle to find assistance, traversing salt flats toward Badwater Road, a two-lane highway encircled by mountains.
    — Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of encircled
Verb
  • In layman's terms, you are being paid to take the unlock that everyone already circled.
    — Jeff Kilburg, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The jumpship circled the fire while the spotter—a smokejumper who oversees the mission from the air—leaned out the door to assess it.
    — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of circled
Verb
  • The warning encompassed the Getty Center as well as Mount Saint Mary’s University.
    — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The publication grew under her leadership, and encompassed a more diverse range of voices, featuring the likes of Maya Angelou, Angela Davis, and Alice Walker.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of encompassed
Verb
  • The site sits in South Memphis, where the surrounding neighborhoods are predominantly Black and ringed by industry that long predates xAI.
    — Austyn Gaffney, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2026
  • At its heart is the main pool ringed by lounge chairs and a pair of whirlpools.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of ringed
Verb
  • And in recent years, celebrities like Zendaya and Anya Taylor-Joy have embraced full European couture, trains and all.
    — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Palantir's AIPCon11 was focused on AI sovereignty and its approach appears to be embraced by customers.
    — Michael Bloom, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of embraced

Browse Nearby Words

surround
surrounded
surrounding
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Surrounded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surrounded. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quorum

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All