downtown
Americanadverb
adjective
noun
-
downtowns
plural
noun
adverb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of downtown
Explanation
Downtown is the area of a city that's the busiest, with the most shops, restaurants, buildings, and pedestrians. You can usually take a bus, train, or subway to get around downtown. The widespread use of downtown probably started in New York City during the early 19th century. The original city hub was located at the southern tip of Manhattan, and as development proceeded northward, New Yorkers began to distinguish between downtown and uptown. In many cities today, downtown doesn't refer to the southern area of the city, just its heart or center.
Vocabulary lists containing downtown
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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:
McPartland compares traditional approaches to studying face recognition with attempting to understand traffic throughout an entire city by monitoring just one downtown street.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026
Thousands of Milwaukee Brewers fans poured out onto the streets of downtown St. Petersburg clad in yellow and powder blue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
While Lorre has shared very little about his New York City condominium, Robb Report has previously reported that he has a “multimillion-dollar” luxury home situated downtown.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
But somewhere in the middle decades of the 20th century, as investors began to look away from downtown, the Clark hit the skids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
The downtown mercantile district has covered walkways that link streets and buildings, providing shade and protection from rain.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Los Angeles has one of the deadest downtowns in the world, according to a new survey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
In addition, “many condo buildings are located in urban downtowns, which are less attractive than they used to be for people who now work from home at least part-time,” the paper reported.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 14, 2026
Many condo buildings are located in urban downtowns, which are less attractive than they used to be for people who now work from home at least part-time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
"Carriers really appreciate Freightera's reliable demand for service, which has grown every year consistently, right through Covid, the inflation afterwards and the current freight recession, one of the largest running freight downtowns," he says.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025
I’m holed up in one of Tokyo’s dozen downtowns, registered under a false name at this hotel.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
