neighborhood

American  

[nay-ber-hood] / ˈneɪ bərˌhʊd /

noun

• neighborhoods
  plural

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.

---

idioms

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

   She looks to be in the neighborhood of 70.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• neighborhoods
  plural

---

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

See Examples For:

neighborhood neighborhoods

Several years ago, while dropping her son off at a friend’s house in Studio City, Sam Donnelly fell in love with the charming neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

What she had was a below-market tenancy in a neighborhood that gentrified around her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

I am renting a nice house in a nice neighborhood, and we are comfortable.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

It has some classical “history of a comedian” parts to it, but also we were there when she had to deal with things like the Altadena fire burning down her neighborhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

There was always some blank space he could find to put his stamp on in every neighborhood.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

“The looting drew attention to a segment of the population—specifically young people from certain neighborhoods, some of whom are from immigrant backgrounds,” said Zulfikarpasic, the pollster.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

In Walton, a Liverpool suburb that ranks as one of Britain’s most deprived neighborhoods, around 1 in 2 households claim welfare, and 1 in 5 working-age residents claim PIP.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Meanwhile, shoes fitted with motion sensors could provide feedback as patients practice walking at home or around their neighborhoods.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

However, its enrollment has exploded in recent years as regular carriers have pulled out of fire-prone neighborhoods.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Vinny and Danny flew down to Miami, where they wandered around empty neighborhoods built with subprime loans, and saw with their own eyes how bad things were.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---