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brownstone

American  
[broun-stohn] / ˈbraʊnˌstoʊn /

noun

  1. a reddish-brown sandstone, used extensively as a building material.

  2. Also called brownstone front.  a building, especially a row house, fronted with this stone.


adjective

  1. Archaic. belonging or pertaining to the well-to-do class.

brownstone British  
/ ˈbraʊnˌstəʊn /

noun

  1. a reddish-brown iron-rich sandstone used for building

  2. a house built of or faced with this stone

"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 brownstone

First recorded in 1830–40; brown + stone

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:

Raven offers a few hypothetical examples—“Should I stay married? Buy a brownstone? Have a kid?”—that are uncomfortably close to the questions Nick’s friends are at the moment asking themselves.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 4, 2026

Being able to afford a $700-per-month brownstone apartment in a highly sought-after neighborhood on a columnist’s salary.

From Salon Jun. 21, 2026

Booth started up DFA in his Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., brownstone in 1981, after forays in indexing at Wells Fargo and A.G.

From Barron's Jun. 18, 2026

Davidson is understood to still have a home base in Brooklyn in the form of a brownstone rental.

From MarketWatch Apr. 16, 2026

The kids stilled and drank in the sight of the brownstone.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

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