bungalow
Americannoun
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bungalows
plural
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a cottage of one story.
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(in India) a one-storied thatched or tiled house, usually surrounded by a veranda.
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(in the U.S.) a derivation of the Indian house type, popular especially during the first quarter of the 20th century, usually having one and a half stories, a widely bracketed gable roof, and a multi-windowed dormer and frequently built of rustic materials.
noun
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a one-storey house, sometimes with an attic
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(in India) a one-storey house, usually surrounded by a veranda
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bungalow
First recorded in 1670–80, bungalow is from the Hindi word banglā literally, of Bengal
Explanation
A bungalow is a little house. If you’re not ready for the three-story house in the suburbs just yet, you might try living in a bungalow. The word bungalow was originally used to describe the temporary houses set up by English sailors traveling to India to work for the East India Company. These little houses were often just one story high with a thatched roof. Nowadays, the word bungalow can be used to describe any one story house. Think of the little cabin you slept in at summer camp — that’s a kind of bungalow.
Vocabulary lists containing bungalow
There's No Word Like Home
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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"Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began" by Art Spiegelman
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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:
Monroe had a copy of Agnes de Mille’s memoir delivered to her bungalow at the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles in October 1960.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Located near the ocean, the first home is a 1,300-square-foot bungalow with two bedrooms and a streamlined gallery kitchen featuring Caesarstone counters and Miele appliances.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Ray Rising, who had lived with his family at the compound for hydroelectric plant workers, lost his wife and three children when the flood hit their wooden bungalow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Singapore police seized a luxury bungalow this month worth more than $40 million as part of fraud investigations linked to the alleged transfer of AI chips.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
They had moved into a four-bedroom stucco bungalow in the far reaches of East Oakland’s Elmhurst neighborhood.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
People have been evacuated after a large fire involving five bungalows in south Wales.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
These newly wealthy-on-paper buyers are checking out bungalows and high-rise apartments with asking prices around $1.2 million to $1.5 million.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 13, 2026
And some 40% of students at the burned Marquez Charter Elementary School have returned to their campus, where they learn, for now, from temporary bungalows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
At Kisawa, 14 airy thatched-roof bungalows make up eight residences, each with its own private beach and infinity pool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
Cowsheds, stables, pigsties, barns, bungalows, hayricks, anything that got in its way went toppling over like a nine-pin.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
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.
