suburb

American  

[suhb-urb] / ˈsʌb ɜrb /

noun

• suburbs
  plural

1. a district lying immediately outside a city or town, especially a smaller residential community.

2. the suburbs, the area composed of such districts.

3. an outlying part.

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suburb British  

/ ˈsʌbɜːb /

noun

1. a residential district situated on the outskirts of a city or town

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• suburbed
  adjective
• unsuburbed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• suburbs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of suburb

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin suburbium, from sub- sub- + urb(s) “city” + -ium -ium

Explanation

A suburb is a residential district located on the outskirts of a city. If you live in the suburbs, you probably travel to the city for work. Suburb comes from Latin: sub means "below or near" and urbis means "city." You also will recognize this root in urban. Suburbs have more single-family homes than apartment buildings, and living there, you are more likely to have a yard with trees and grass. The downside is, if you work in the city, you might have a long commute that adds to the time you are away from your family.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suburb suburbs

The influx of investment and dedicated citizenry has helped the San Gabriel Valley suburb flourish economically and culturally, earning it the nickname the “Chinese Beverly Hills.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

For instance, one single-family home in Ladue, an affluent suburb of St. Louis, is currently listed for $6.1 million, and another custom home is listed for about $3.8 million.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026

The H5N1 vaccination program, which also covers a popular little penguin population at a breakwater in the Melbourne beach suburb of St Kilda, is a challenge, he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Police recovered the prints last week when they raided an apartment in the São Paulo suburb of São Bernardo do Campo and arrested a man suspected of watching over the stolen art.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Perhaps the biggest blow to my mother came when her friend Velma Stewart announced that she and her husband had put a down payment on a house in a suburb called Park Forest.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Home prices in the D.C. suburbs are up more than 65% in the past decade, compared with a 27% increase in the city, according to Redfin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Not so fine any more, experts say, at least not without radical changes in the way France runs its forests and lets its suburbs expand deep into rural terrain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

As the new property manager of Parkwood Apartments, a squat complex of 175 low-rise apartments and townhouses in the San Diego suburbs, she says she excelled.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

When Dick’s bought Foot Locker last year, the move had the potential to increase Dick’s customer base in urban areas, where Foot Locker stores were concentrated, complementing Dick’s stores in the suburbs.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

She was from the city, he the suburbs.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• countryside
• environs
• hinterland
• outpost
• outskirts
• suburbia
• village