downtown
Americanadverb
adjective
noun
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:
On Friday evening, some of the Liverpool squad took the short walk from their hotel in downtown Nashville to Broadway - the famous entertainment district here in the state of Tennessee.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
A two-vehicle collision Sunday involving a Waymo near downtown Los Angeles sent two people to the hospital and left several others injured, according to first responders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Lehigh Acres has no downtown or central shopping district, just a smattering of strip malls dominated by dollar stores and mom-and-pop shops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
By the 1990s, with his investments in more elegant buildings downtown, he was playing golf with Trump, and their families hung out together.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Let’s go to our meteorologist, Cindy Stewart, in downtown Saint Pete and see what the mood is there. Cindy?”
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
He previously covered commercial real estate and America’s changing downtowns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 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
Downtown Los Angeles is one of the few downtowns across the country that saw growth pre- to post-pandemic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 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.
