suburban

[suh-bur-buhn]

adjective

1. pertaining to, inhabiting, or being in a suburb or the suburbs of a city or town.

2. characteristic of a suburb or suburbs.

noun

1. a suburbanite.

2. a short overcoat for casual wear.

3. station wagon.

suburban

/ səˈbɜːbən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, situated in, or inhabiting a suburb or the suburbs

2. characteristic of or typifying a suburb or the suburbs

3. pejorative,  narrow or unadventurous in outlook

noun

1. another word for suburbanite

Other Word Forms

• suburbanism noun
• nonsuburban adjective
• semisuburban adjective
• unsuburban adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of suburban¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin suburbānus “located close to a city (especially to Rome),” equivalent to sub- + urb- (stem of urbs “city”) + -ānus adjective suffix; sub-, urban

Example Sentences

The town and farm life he’d lived in Pennsylvania governed his imagination with even more intensity than the suburban Massachusetts world in which he would spend his adulthood.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In suburban and rural areas, the observed increase in violent crime over that same span—4% and 2%, respectively—wasn’t statistically significant.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Wi$h Li$t,” a wistful song that hits like a contented sigh, imagines a simple life of domesticity in a suburban house with a basketball hoop, children and peace.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Theresa Ingstrup, 52, a stay-at-home mother from suburban Chicago, said it was the first time in her life that she had protested in public.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Bathhouse, which operates two large spaces in New York, is planning to open seven more locations in Chicago, Nashville, suburban New Jersey and other places over the next two years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• rural