Middletown

[mid-l-toun]

noun (sometimes lowercase)

a typical American town or small city with traditional values and mores.

Origin of Middletown

after a pseudonymously named town studied in a book with the same title (1929) by U.S. sociologists Robert S. Lynd (1892–1970) and Helen Merrell Lynd (1896–1982); the town actually studied was Muncie, Ind.

Related formsMid·dle·town·er, noun

Middletown

[mid-l-toun]

noun

a township in E New Jersey.

a city in SW Ohio, on the Miami River.

a city in central Connecticut, on the Connecticut River.

a city in SE New York.

a town in SE Rhode Island.

a town in E Pennsylvania.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for middletown

Contemporary Examples of middletown

A reporter with the Middletown Times Herald found her “distinctly feminine.”
The Myth of Jackie Mitchell, the Girl Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig
Adam Doster
May 18, 2013
Like those in Middletown, most are also facing a Catch 22: the stagnant economy blew a hole in their budgets.
Can Libraries Survive in an Era of Budget Cutbacks?
Miranda Green
February 16, 2013
A mother of four who lives in Middletown, Md., McKenzie joined Solavei when a friend posted about the company on Facebook.
Mobile Telephone Startup Solavei Avoids Ads, Relies on Customers for Sales Leads
Miranda Green
October 24, 2012

Historical Examples of middletown

He was killed by a bullet from the gun of a sharpshooter in Middletown.
Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman
J. H. (James Harvey) Kidd
Behind him, through the wood, on toward Middletown rumbled the passing battery.
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston
There's a wood road over there that cuts off a deal of distance to Middletown.
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston
Five minutes later they reached the pike, south of Middletown.
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston
The Valley pike, in the region of Middletown, proved a cumbered path.
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston

Word Origin and History for middletown

Middletown

"typical U.S. middle class community," 1929. The U.S. Geological Survey lists 40 towns by that name, not counting variant spellings.