Synonyms

small-town

American

[smawl-toun] / ˈsmɔlˈtaʊn /

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of a town or village.

a typical, small-town general store.
provincial or unsophisticated.

small-town manners.

Other Word Forms

small-towner noun

Etymology

Origin of small-town

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

Twin Peaks was both a place haunted by violence and a nostalgic fantasy of small-town innocence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

“This one had, like, one-and-a-half acts of mystery and a humorous look at small-town people,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

Jared Keeso stars in this “Letterkenny” spinoff satirizing performative masculinity among a small-town Canadian hockey team.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026

For now though, style and savings appear to have trumped concerns about sustainability, with many small-town Indians only just getting on to the fast-fashion bandwagon.

From BBC • Feb. 22, 2026

But it isn’t small-town living or even popularity versus principles that occupies my mind, so much as it is justice.

From "The Misfits" by James Howe

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023