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Synonyms

bungalow

American  
[buhng-guh-loh] / ˈbʌŋ gəˌloʊ /

noun

  1. a cottage of one story.

  2. (in India) a one-storied thatched or tiled house, usually surrounded by a veranda.

  3. (in the U.S.) a derivation of the Indian house type, popular especially during the first quarter of the 20th century, usually having one and a half stories, a widely bracketed gable roof, and a multi-windowed dormer and frequently built of rustic materials.

bungalow British  
/ ˈbʌŋɡəˌləʊ /

noun

  1. a one-storey house, sometimes with an attic

  2. (in India) a one-storey house, usually surrounded by a veranda

"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 bungalow

First recorded in 1670–80, bungalow is from the Hindi word banglā literally, of Bengal

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.

Farr, 56, purchased the four-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom property in 2011 when she and her then-husband, Seung Yong Chung, realized the Spanish bungalow they had been living in could no longer accommodate their rapidly expanding brood.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

Alexis Okeowo, New Yorker staff writer: I was a late discoverer of Taix, stumbling upon it when I moved to a bungalow just above Sunset during the pandemic from New York.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Adams has lived in her freestanding one-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow for 2½ years, a personal record.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2026

For retired computer engineer Martin Swales, 78, standing outside his bungalow in the village of Sawston, the maths simply does not add up.

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026

Often, in the minutes she had to herself each day as she walked from the bungalow to the house, she would reflect on the benign accidents of her life.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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.