neighborhood

American  

[ney-ber-hood] / ˈneɪ bərˌhʊd /

noun

1. the area or region around or near some place or thing; vicinity.

   the kids of the neighborhood; located in the neighborhood of Jackson and Vine streets.

2. a district or locality, often with reference to its character or inhabitants.

   a fashionable neighborhood; to move to a nicer neighborhood.

   Synonyms:

   vicinity, locale, area, community

3. a number of persons living near one another or in a particular locality.

   The whole neighborhood was there.

4. neighborly feeling or conduct.

5. nearness; proximity.

   to sense the neighborhood of trouble.

6. Mathematics. an open set that contains a given point.

---

idioms

1. in the neighborhood of, approximately; nearly; about.

   She looks to be in the neighborhood of 70.

Etymology

Origin of neighborhood

First recorded in 1400–50, neighborhood is from the late Middle English word neighborehode. See neighbor, -hood

Explanation

Use the noun neighborhood when you're talking about a community within a town or city. Getting to know the people and places in your neighborhood can make you feel right at home in a city of millions. A neighborhood can be created by lines on a map that designate a district, or it can grow over time to become a neighborhood with a certain personality, based on who lives there. You can also use neighborhood to describe something nearby, like promising to visit a friend the next time you are in the neighborhood — or something that's approximate, like a restaurants whose burgers are in the neighborhood of ten dollars.

Example Sentences

Same-restaurant sales, which account for store openings and closings, increased 1.9% across its Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar + Grill banner during the latest quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

Alaniz, the only Republican in the race, serves as president of the Westlake North Neighborhood Council and previously ran unsuccessfully to represent California’s Assembly District 54.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

The group depicted here is a seemingly anodyne one, the Neighborhood Association of Vernon Point, a small upscale suburb of an unnamed East Coast city.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Neighborhood doorbell cameras, Flock license plate readers and hyperlocal social media sites like Nextdoor create a crowdsourced record of all people’s movements in public spaces.

From Salon • Apr. 23, 2026

Most important of all, his mother was the Neighborhood Party Committee Secretary, and so no one wanted to offend him.

From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang

Related Words

• area
• block
• district
• parish
• part
• precinct
• region
• section
• street
• suburb
• territory
• zone