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Synonyms

boom town

American  
Or boomtown

noun

  1. a town that has grown very rapidly as a result of sudden prosperity.

boom town British  

noun

  1. a town that is enjoying sudden prosperity or has grown rapidly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of boom town

First recorded in 1895–1900

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.

Marysville was a gold rush boom town, more populous in 1860 than any other city in the state except for San Francisco and Sacramento.

From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2024

Reminiscent of a frontier boom town, the human-built industrial port refines fossil fuels at a relentless pace.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2023

Other weatherworn, ancient-looking, wood buildings in various stages of collapse at first glance appear to be original structures — until you realize they were actually built after this boom town went bust.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 30, 2021

There is already something of a "boom town" atmosphere, with buzzing waterfront bars, shiny new shopfronts and an almost-finished cultural centre which will be one of the world's tallest wooden buildings.

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2021

In a boom town like Rochester, they watched as men of their class turned into financial and social success stories.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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.