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

Seventeen years ago, Locke marked the first time in L.A. that an outside group took over a low-performing high school — continuing to take in all neighborhood students.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026

The house has gained at least $100,000 in value over the five years since I bought it, and it’s one of the least expensive homes in the neighborhood, so I’m not overbuilding.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026

For decades, the neighborhood had an eclectic mix of residents, including a radio announcer who built mazes for children using wooden pallets and a man who started a public market.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 14, 2026

In Havana's leafy middle-class Vedado neighborhood, pints at a dollar a pop were flowing at a watch party in a cultural center festooned with a Brazil flag and World Cup bunting.

From Barron's • Jun. 14, 2026

Today, one of the biggest tourist attractions is its medieval Jewish neighborhood, which looks like a storybook village in the photographs, with its stone buildings and winding alleys.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

Related Words

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