motel
Americannoun
-
motels
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of motel
Compare meaning
How does motel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A motel is a place you can stay overnight, with plenty of parking and easy access to a highway. Many motels feature rooms with separate entrances that face a large parking lot. A motel is very much like a hotel — it fact, motels were originally "motor hotels." The first official motel was built in 1925, designed to be an easy, cheap stop on a long car trip. While hotels are often in the middle of cities, motels are usually on a city's outskirts, providing space to park and a quick walk from car to room. The popularity of motels increased through the twentieth century, along with the development of the modern highway system.
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:
He became a suspect after a clerk at a dry cleaners that had been robbed saw Brambles at a motel and called police.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The interview, filmed in a Philadelphia studio dressed up to resemble a seedy motel in a wink at the laptop scandal, quickly became a viral sensation, generating millions of views.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
The address she was given turned out to be a "dingy gross motel", but she says she presumed they would be heading out somewhere else.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Two weeks later, on Dec. 8, San Francisco police got a tip that Kirchner had been spotted at a cheap motel two hours away in Merced, Calif., according to police records.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
It’s a nice day, and—like everything in Driftaway Beach —the motel isn’t too far, so she must have walked.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Raman contends that Bass’ signature program Inside Safe, which dismantles encampments and moves people living there into motels, hotels and interim housing, is overly expensive and unsustainable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Christopher Reynolds traveled through eight states, past Muffler Men and motels, beneath the bright lights of Tulsa and Tucumcari.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
According to the indictment, the Hoovers had strongholds over specific hotels and motels in their territory, including the Stadium Inn & Spas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Along the way, they plan to crash in roadside motels and expect the trip altogether will cost them less than $4,500.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
The motels and the gas pumps are often empty or closed: gas is rationed, so people don’t travel much unless they have to.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
