A person’s surroundings are the things, circumstances, or conditions that make up their environment, especially the physical aspects: He awoke in strange surroundings; she tried to blend in with her surroundings. The noun milieu refers to intangible aspects of an environment, especially those of a social or cultural nature: The artist’s work reflected a very specific cultural milieu. Milieu, a loanword from French, is especially useful for highlighting the character or prevailing attitudes or influences of certain historical periods or of social sets. In this way it is different not only from surroundings, but also from ambiance, which emphasizes the mood or tone of an environment, and setting, which suggests a background that sets something off.

Something that is unwieldy is not readily handled or managed in use or action, as from size, shape, or weight. The verb wield, from which unwieldy and its more manageable counterpart wieldy stem, is used to talk about exercising power, influence, or authority, or about using something, such as a weapon or instrument, effectively. Cumbersome is a strong synonym for unwieldy. It is commonly used to talk about processes, systems, or procedures that are convoluted, tedious, and time-consuming. Cumbersome comes from the verb cumber “to overload; burden” or “to hinder; hamper.”

The verbs repeat and reiterate are so close in meaning that reading their definitions might in itself feel like a repetitive act. To repeat something is to say or utter it again. To reiterate something is to say or do it again, or, to repeat it, often excessively. So how are they different? Reiterate is more commonly used for emphasis—that is, to underscore that something is important and therefore worth saying again, perhaps in a different way than first articulated: At the end of the interview, the candidate reiterated her interest in the role. Repeat, on the other hand, is commonly used to talk about the reproduction of words or sounds without the suggestion of importance: The contestant in the spelling bee asked the judge to repeat the word and definition.