The Meaning of SRO: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of SRO? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the abbreviation SRO, including its definition, usage, examples, and more!

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What does the abbreviation SRO stand for?

According to Million Acres, the term SRO stands for single room occupancy. This is a type of lodging that is an inexpensive, bare-bones furnished room for short-term and medium-term rent. These usually do not have long-term basis options for a lease. They are very similar to a cheap hotel. The apartments in an SRO building are usually rented by the purchasers for cheap rents to a tenant for a number of consecutive days. Different circumstances can cause people to rent an SRO unit. They might have had evictions, been low on funds or impoverished, or recently released from prison. The owners of the premises have the authority to take advantage of people who have barriers to renting a different type of apartment. 

According to The Free Dictionary, the acronym SRO can stand for much more than just single room occupancy. These other definitions are perfectly valid, but they are far less common. Because of this, you should use them sparingly. If you do decide to use one of these other definitions for this acronym, make sure that the listener or reader has the proper context so that they are not confused. When in doubt, use the full meaning or full form of the shorthand SRO, especially in real life. A brief explanation of each meaning is below. 

  •  System Readiness Objective
  •  Senior Responsible Officer
  •  Shared Residence Order
  •  Savannah River Operations
  •  Self-Regulating Organization
  •  Suisse Romande Orchestra
  •  Strategic Research Objective (Army)
  •  Special Revenue Other (various locations)
  •  Service de Radiobiologie et d’Oncologie (French: Radiobiology and Oncology Service)
  •  Solder Resist Opening (semiconductor manufacturing)
  •  Surveillance Régionale des Odeurs (French: Regional Monitoring Odors)
  •  Student Records Office (various schools)
  •  Serious Replies Only
  •  Shutdown Reactor Operator (US Navy submarine watchstation)
  •  Security Response Option
  •  Scottish Recorder Orchestra (UK)
  •  Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Observation
  •  Statutory Restraining Order
  •  Station Routine Orders (UK Royal Air Force)
  •  Survey Research Office (University of Illinois at Springfield)
  •  Shop Repair Order
  •  Scientific Research Organisation
  •  Sleep Research Online
  •  Southeast Regional Office (various organizations)
  •  Southern Reservations Office
  •  Statutory Regulation Order (UK)
  •  Special Resource Officer (various locations)
  •  Stade Rennais Online
  •  State Revenue Office (Australia)
  •  Solutés de Réhydratation Orale (French: Oral Rehydration Solution)
  •  Systems Review Office
  •  Sensitive Reconnaissance Operations
  •  Supervisor Range Operations (US NASA)
  •  Stock Record Officer
  •  Slack per Remaining Operation
  •  Static Return to Off (vehicle controls)
  •  Special Report Online
  •  Senior Ranking Officer
  •  School Resource Officer (professional career law enforcement officer, with sworn authority, as a police officer assigned by the employing police-department entity to work at a school in collaboration with regard to school administrators and community-based organizations for crime prevention)
  •  Siqueiros, Rivera, Orozco (Mexican muralists)
  •  Saudi Railways Organization (Saudi Arabia)
  •  Solutions Reselling Organization
  •  Sharable and Read Only
  •  State and Regional Organization (various organizations)
  •  Southern Desert of Ro (Everquest)
  •  Social Reform Officer (Church of Scientology)
  •  Sleeping Rooms Only
  •  Specification Release Order
  •  Standing Room Only
  •  Surface Readout
  •  Silkroad Online (game)
  •  Storm Riders Online (gaming)
  •  State Review Officer
  •  Service Repair Order
  •  Spolocnost s rucením obmedzeným (Slovakia: limited company)
  •  Shipping Registration Office
  •  Seismic Research Observatory(ies)
  •  Senior Responsible Owners (UK)
  •  Standing Route Order
  •  Sharable & Read Only
  •  Socorro (Amtrak station code; Socorro, NM)
  •  Stade Rodez Omnisports (French: Rodez Omnisports Stadium; France)
  •  Sold Right Out
  •  SISTAZ Reaching Out (Bridgeport, CT)
  •  Self Regulatory Organization
  •  Station Reception Officer (UK)
  •  Service Request Order
  •  Sponsored Research Office (various universities)
  •  Senior Reactor Operator
  •  Sustainment Replenishment Operations
  •  Self-Regulatory Organization (stock exchange investors, under the control of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and financial industry regulatory authority non-governmental)

What are synonyms for SRO?

There are many  different terms that a person can use generally to describe housing. While the term SRO is very specific, take a look at this list of synonyms for SRO from Power Thesaurus and see which you might be able to use to describe your own living situation.

  •  roost
  •  castle
  •  charge
  •  presenting
  •  caravansary
  •  caserne
  •  reside
  •  flat
  •  dwelling unit
  •  asylum
  •  inhabitancy
  •  pad
  •  penthouse
  •  tenement
  •  deposit
  •  quarterage
  •  abode
  •  housing
  •  home
  •  abiding place
  •  residency
  •  shelter
  •  lodgment
  •  living accommodations
  •  walk-up
  •  filing
  •  become stuck
  •  accommodation
  •  apartment
  •  boardinghouse
  •  boarding house
  •  cottage
  •  dwelling place
  •  doss
  •  enter
  •  apartment buildings
  •  live
  •  floor-through
  •  diggings
  •  harborage
  •  be quartered
  •  address
  •  quartering
  •  rooms
  •  stay
  •  billets
  •  lodge
  •  roosting
  •  crib
  •  saltbox
  •  barracks
  •  motor inn
  •  den
  •  seat
  •  dwell
  •  room
  •  condominium
  •  register
  •  habitation
  •  introducing
  •  place to stay
  •  depositing
  •  split level
  •  camp
  •  quarters
  •  railroad apartment
  •  quarter
  •  squatting
  •  become embedded
  •  chambers
  •  tenancy
  •  bungalow
  •  place
  •  flop
  •  accommodations
  •  barn
  •  accommodating
  •  hospice
  •  be put up
  •  accommodational
  •  lodgings
  •  bed and breakfast
  •  advance
  •  tract house
  •  become implanted
  •  house
  •  rent rooms
  •  submit
  •  layout
  •  dwellings
  •  almonry
  •  nest
  •  roof over head
  •  embed itself
  •  youth hostel
  •  living
  •  stick
  •  accommodate
  •  place of residence
  •  motel
  •  co-op
  •  bullpen
  •  double-wide
  •  hostel
  •  dwelling-place
  •  crash pad
  •  dormitory
  •  put up
  •  domicile
  •  become fixed
  •  present
  •  berth
  •  inhabiting
  •  hideaway
  •  billeting
  •  rental
  •  setup
  •  inn
  •  dwelling house
  •  lodgement
  •  roof
  •  suite
  •  residence
  •  lodging
  •  board
  •  dwelling
  •  housings
  •  hut
  •  houses
  •  put forward
  •  room and board
  •  overnight shelter
  •  homestead
  •  flophouse
  •  habitancy
  •  residing
  •  resort
  •  cantonment
  •  doss house
  •  fleabag
  •  townhome
  •  shack
  •  inhabitation
  •  hotel
  •  bunkhouse
  •  billet
  •  digs
  •  flatlet
  •  condo
  •  living quarters
  •  staying

Overall, the term SRO stands for single room occupancy. This is a type of single room apartment that comes furnished and has a very low rent. Someone might choose to rent from an SRO building because they cannot afford a standard apartment, they have bad credit, they do not have a credit score, or they have recently been released from prison. These types of buildings are controversial. Some people think they are a good thing, while other think they are predatory.

Sources:

  1. What Is an SRO, and Why Are They Controversial? | Million Acres 
  2. SRO – What does SRO stand for? | The Free Dictionary 
  3. Lodging synonyms – 621 Words and Phrases for Lodging | Power Thesaurus