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
Spelling Practice 1, Unit 7
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"Ballad of Birmingham" by Dudley Randall
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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:
I recollect a button I once saw in a shop on Elm Street, the main drag through, yes, downtown Manchester!
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Up north, San Francisco International Airport reached a record-breaking 94; downtown Oakland, 97; and San Rafael, 104.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
In the months after the attacks, many New Yorkers feared that the downtown Financial District would become a ghost town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
About an hour from downtown Milwaukee, Lake Lawn Resort on Delavan Lake makes an easy all-season getaway.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 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
Public officials like the win-win: It addresses both their housing shortages and the overhang of empty office space plaguing downtowns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
When it was built, the mall was part of a trend among commercial builders to create mini downtowns for cities that lacked them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 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
"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
Even the brick buildings in the ramshackle little downtowns we drive past seem crisp in this light.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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.
