inner city
- an older part of a city, densely populated and usually deteriorating, inhabited mainly by poor, often minority, groups.
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Compare central city.
Origin of inner city
First recorded in 1960–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for inner city
Contemporary Examples
“Inner-city girls and suburban girls are not exposed to the out of doors and to the wilderness,” Hildebrand says.
Child to a single mother, he grew up in inner-city Baltimore.
Those proved to be big words for a little girl growing up in inner-city Newark, N.J.
For the time being, “inner-city poverty” still sounds like a contradiction in terms to the Chinese ear.
Ghosts in the Machine: The Story of China’s Rural Migrants and Their Uncertain FutureRoss Perlin
December 10, 2012
But words of peace are hard pressed to compete with a record company that can put up $3 million for words of inner-city war.
Chicago Rapper Lil JoJo Went to His Grave for Taunting a Rival Gang MemberMichael Daly
October 7, 2012
Historical Examples
Eastside High School is located in an inner-city neighborhood and enrolls 3,200 students.
What Works: Schools Without DrugsUnited States Department of Education
inner city
- the parts of a city in or near its centre, esp when they are associated with poverty, unemployment, substandard housing, etc
- (as modifier)inner-city schools
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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
inner city
A general term for impoverished areas of large cities. The inner city is characterized by minimal educational opportunities, high unemployment and crime rates, broken families, and inadequate housing. (See ghettos.)
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.