neighborhood

American  

[ney-ber-hood] / ˈneɪ bərˌhʊd /

noun

1. the area or region around or near some place or thing; vicinity.

   the kids of the neighborhood; located in the neighborhood of Jackson and Vine streets.

2. a district or locality, often with reference to its character or inhabitants.

   a fashionable neighborhood; to move to a nicer neighborhood.

   Synonyms:

   vicinity, locale, area, community

3. a number of persons living near one another or in a particular locality.

   The whole neighborhood was there.

4. neighborly feeling or conduct.

5. nearness; proximity.

   to sense the neighborhood of trouble.

6. Mathematics. an open set that contains a given point.

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idioms

1. in the neighborhood of, approximately; nearly; about.

   She looks to be in the neighborhood of 70.

Etymology

Origin of neighborhood

First recorded in 1400–50, neighborhood is from the late Middle English word neighborehode. See neighbor, -hood

Explanation

Use the noun neighborhood when you're talking about a community within a town or city. Getting to know the people and places in your neighborhood can make you feel right at home in a city of millions. A neighborhood can be created by lines on a map that designate a district, or it can grow over time to become a neighborhood with a certain personality, based on who lives there. You can also use neighborhood to describe something nearby, like promising to visit a friend the next time you are in the neighborhood — or something that's approximate, like a restaurants whose burgers are in the neighborhood of ten dollars.

Example Sentences

Nagano is one of the organizers of Little Tokyo Sparkle, an annual neighborhood cleanup scheduled for May 17 this year.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

I moved my ClassPass membership to a cheaper tier, replaced my gym membership with one through work that costs a fraction of the price and started going on runs in my neighborhood.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

There should be support in the general neighborhood of 6,600.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

One of the strikes targeted Basta, a working-class neighborhood in the heart of the capital.

From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026

For Kindcreek Road passes through a neighborhood that’s been known as an “Apache rancheria” for over 150 years.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• area
• block
• district
• parish
• part
• precinct
• region
• section
• street
• suburb
• territory
• zone