urban

[ ur-buhn ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designating a city or town:

   densely populated urban areas.

2. living, located, or taking place in a city:

   urban rooftop gardening.

3. characteristic of or accustomed to cities; citified:

   He’s an urban type—I can’t picture him enjoying a whole week at our cabin in the woods.

4. of or relating to the experience, lifestyle, or culture of African Americans living in economically depressed inner-city neighborhoods:

   Their first album had a hard, urban vibe.

5. Offensive. (used as a euphemism for Black or African American, rather than in reference to cities or their residents):

   a drug problem that particularly impacts the urban residents in this small town.

urban

/ ˈɜːbən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or constituting a city or town
2. living in a city or town
3. (of music) emerging and developing in densely populated areas of large cities, esp those populated by people of African or Caribbean origin Compare rural

Other Words From

• anti·urban adjective
• non·urban adjective
• semi·urban adjective
• un·urban adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of urban¹

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin urbānus, equivalent to urb- (stem of urbs ) “city” + -ānus adjective suffix; -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of urban¹

C17: from Latin urbānus, from urbs city

Example Sentences

In Syria's second city of Aleppo, the first urban area seized by HTS in its lightning advance, its fighters have been trying to prove they are fit to rule.

From BBC

He would have preferred starting with signage that “promotes peer pressure to do the right thing, to respect the park and urban wilderness and habitat.”

From Los Angeles Times

And it helps explain how the apex predators manage to hack it in an intensely urban environment.

From Los Angeles Times

The study measured the vibrations and sudden movements frequently experienced by bus passengers during starts, stops, and turns, especially in urban traffic conditions.

From Science Daily

"Finally, urban environments aren't very friendly to a lot of native species, so you have a degraded ecological community that creates opportunities for new species to come in," said Winchell.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• civic
• civil
• downtown
• metropolitan