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Synonyms

uptown

American  
[uhp-toun, uhp-toun] / ˈʌpˈtaʊn, ˈʌpˌtaʊn /

adverb

  1. to, toward, or in the upper part of a town or city.

    He rode uptown on the bus.

adjective

  1. moving toward, situated in, or pertaining to the upper part of a town.

    Take the uptown bus.

  2. of, for, or characteristic of affluent people; elegant, stylish, or luxurious.

    uptown fashions; uptown tastes.

noun

  1. the uptown section of a town or city.

    Uptown is less crowded.
uptown British  
/ ˈʌpˈtaʊn /

adjective

  1. towards, in, or relating to some part of a town that is away from the centre

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. such a part of a town, esp a residential part

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • uptowner noun

Etymology

Origin of uptown

First recorded in 1830–40; up- + town

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.

Ahmad, his wife, and his two daughters eventually settled in uptown Oklahoma City, four miles northwest of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

From Slate • Apr. 19, 2026

"Hoffman, me, my brother, three or four other actors and singers had a place on 107th and Broadway in Manhattan, uptown," Duvall told GQ in 2014.

From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026

This year’s largest stock sale wasn’t on the New York Stock Exchange or its uptown rival, the Nasdaq Stock Market.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2025

When his work was staged for the uptown set at Lincoln Center, seats emptied.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2025

Instead she led him out the door into the Fifth Avenue crowd and began walking uptown with him as fast as she could go.

From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg

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.