suburban
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, inhabiting, or being in a suburb or the suburbs of a city or town.
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characteristic of a suburb or suburbs.
noun
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a suburbanite.
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a short overcoat for casual wear.
adjective
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of, relating to, situated in, or inhabiting a suburb or the suburbs
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characteristic of or typifying a suburb or the suburbs
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pejorative narrow or unadventurous in outlook
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of suburban
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; see origin at sub-, urban
Explanation
Suburban refers to areas just beyond a city’s border. Your parents might have grown up in the city and then moved to a more suburban area after they had kids. If you see a lot of malls, plus houses that all look the same, and you're just outside a city, then you're in a suburban area: the suburbs. If you're from the suburbs, the chaos of New York City might be shocking. Suburban areas aren't as busy as urban (city) areas, but there's a lot more going on than in rural areas — farmland. One difference between suburban and urban areas is the urban areas have more cabs and public transportation.
Vocabulary lists containing suburban
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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.
For years, he’d been a classroom science teacher in suburban San Diego County, and now, with that chapter behind him, the trees have become his life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Flyers’ attempts to beat traffic and get a few more hours at the exclusive summer enclave are rattling the windows of people who believed they had earned a slice of suburban tranquility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
This organic anger bubbling up across rural and suburban parts of the state has changed the terms of the race between Abbott and Hinojosa, Davis said.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
Maybe you’ve heard the premise of “The Debut”: Meek suburban wife auditions for a community theater musical despite having no experience or, quite frankly, apparent talent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
He’d programmed it to look like a large suburban rec room, circa the late 1980s.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
