gentrify

American  

[jen-truh-fahy] / ˈdʒɛn trəˌfaɪ /

verb (used with object)

gentrified, gentrifying

1. to alter (a deteriorated urban neighborhood) through the buying and renovation of houses and stores by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, raising property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses.

2. to conform to an upper- or middle-class lifestyle; make appealing to those with more affluent tastes.

   Fish and chips have been gentrified.

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verb (used without object)

gentrified, gentrifying

1. to undergo this type of change.

   Some neighborhoods gentrify more quickly than others.

Other Word Forms

• gentrifier
  noun

Etymology

Origin of gentrify

First recorded in 1970–75; gentry + -fy

Explanation

To gentrify is to fix up a neighborhood so that wealthier people want to move there, with the unfortunate result that poor residents can't afford to live there anymore. This process often begins when middle-class people start buying and sprucing up homes in a poor neighborhood. Over time, more well-off people move in, along with hip coffee shops and fancy restaurants and shops — and house prices and rents go way up. It takes a while to gentrify a whole neighborhood, but eventually it becomes nearly impossible for lower-income people to stay. Gentrify is from gentry, or "nobility," and its root, which means "high-born."

Related Words

• continue
• extend
• prolong
• reaffirm
• reestablish
• reopen
• repeat
• restate
• restore
• resume
• revive