motel
Americannoun
-
motels
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of motel
Compare meaning
How does motel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A motel is a place you can stay overnight, with plenty of parking and easy access to a highway. Many motels feature rooms with separate entrances that face a large parking lot. A motel is very much like a hotel — it fact, motels were originally "motor hotels." The first official motel was built in 1925, designed to be an easy, cheap stop on a long car trip. While hotels are often in the middle of cities, motels are usually on a city's outskirts, providing space to park and a quick walk from car to room. The popularity of motels increased through the twentieth century, along with the development of the modern highway system.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He was born in Africa to Indian parents, who brought him to the U.S. at a young age, and bought a motel in Virginia, putting him to work at the age of 14.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The interview, filmed in a Philadelphia studio dressed up to resemble a seedy motel in a wink at the laptop scandal, quickly became a viral sensation, generating millions of views.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
The address she was given turned out to be a "dingy gross motel", but she says she presumed they would be heading out somewhere else.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
To save money, the four shared one motel room outside of Manhattan in Sussex, N.J, for about $100 a night, and have planned similar accommodations as they travel to Providence, R.I.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
To chill out after such a lousy day, Marjory headed into the motel lobby and started reorganizing the rack of tourist brochures.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Inside Safe, her signature homeless program, has moved more than 6,200 people into hotels, motels and other interim housing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
To expand the program’s reach, the city will need to move away from expensive hotels and motels and toward high-quality homeless shelters, the mayor said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Under her signature program, the city has spent $82,420 a year for each homeless person it has sheltered in motels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Christopher Reynolds traveled through eight states, past Muffler Men and motels, beneath the bright lights of Tulsa and Tucumcari.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Today it has 100 motels and 400 gift shops.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
