scenery

IPA/ˈsiːnəri/
KK[sˈinɚi]IPA/ˈsiːnəri/

scenery — noun

1. everything you see outdoors in a natural place, such as hills, trees, water, and

1.nounB1
Definition

everything you see outdoors in a natural place, such as hills, trees, water, and fields, that gives a place its look — especially when that look is pleasing to the eye

Example

Walid and his cousin drove through the countryside, stopping often to enjoy the scenery.

collocation: enjoy the scenery

The scenery around Lake Biwa is so peaceful that Sirin goes there to relax.

postmodifier: scenery around [place]

Common collocations
  • enjoy the scenery
  • admire the scenery
  • beautiful scenery
  • stunning scenery
  • dramatic scenery
  • mountain scenery
  • coastal scenery
  • spectacular scenery
Synonyms
  • landscape

    more specific to a stretch of countryside seen from one point; can also be countable (a landscape)

  • view

    what you can see from a particular spot; more general and less poetic than scenery

  • vista

    formal; a long, wide view, often of beautiful land or water

Usage Note

Frequently modified by adjectives describing beauty or scale (beautiful, stunning, dramatic, breathtaking). Never used with the indefinite article a because it is uncountable — ❌ a beautiful scenery → ✅ beautiful scenery.

Common Mistakes

We saw many beautiful sceneries on our trip.
We saw a lot of beautiful scenery on our trip.
scenery is uncountable and does not take a plural form.

2. the painted backdrops, curtains, and three-dimensional objects arranged on a sta

2.nounB2
Definition

the painted backdrops, curtains, and three-dimensional objects arranged on a stage to show where the events of a play or performance take place

Example

The scenery for act one showed a Japanese garden with a bridge and cherry trees.

collocation: scenery for [act/scene]

Chiara spent all week painting the scenery for the school musical.

Common collocations
  • paint the scenery
  • design the scenery
  • change the scenery
  • build the scenery
  • theatre scenery
  • stage scenery
Synonyms
  • stage set

    includes scenery plus all furniture and large props; more comprehensive

  • backdrop

    specifically the large painted cloth at the back of the stage

  • set design

    the art or plan of arranging the stage; not the physical objects themselves

Usage Note

Distinguish from props (small objects actors handle) and costumes (what actors wear). Scenery refers only to the background and set pieces that create the location. In British English the spelling scenery is used; in American English it is the same spelling.

Word family

  • scene
    nounA2
  • scenic
    adjectiveB1
  • scenically
    adverbB2
  • scenography
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Scenery is the broadest term of the four, referring to the overall natural appearance of a place, almost always with a focus on beauty. Landscape is slightly more specific: it describes a stretch of countryside as seen from a single vantage point and is often used in art and photography (a landscape painting). View is the most practical word — it simply means what you can see from a particular spot, whether beautiful or not (a room with a view of the car park). Vista is formal and literary, reserved for long, sweeping views of impressive scenery (a vista of snow-capped peaks). In everyday conversation, scenery and view are the most natural choices. 'The scenery in Taroko Gorge is breathtaking' sounds idiomatic; 'the vista in Taroko Gorge' would sound overly dramatic for casual speech.

scenery ↗landscape ↗view ↗vista ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • change of scenery

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Scenery was formed in English in the 1700s by adding -ery to scene. Scene came from Latin scaena ('stage, stage-building'), which was borrowed from Greek skēnē ('tent, booth, stage'). Originally the word referred only to theatrical stage decoration. In the 1700s, writers began using it as a metaphor for natural views, and the 'beautiful landscape' meaning became more common than the theatre meaning by the 1800s.