urban
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or designating a city or town.
densely populated urban areas.
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living, located, or taking place in a city.
urban rooftop gardening.
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characteristic of or accustomed to cities; citified.
He’s an urban type—I can’t picture him enjoying a whole week at our cabin in the woods.
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of or relating to the experience, lifestyle, or culture of African Americans living in economically depressed inner-city neighborhoods.
Their first album had a hard, urban vibe.
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Offensive. (used as a euphemism for Black or African American, rather than in reference to cities or their residents).
a drug problem that particularly impacts the urban residents in this small town.
adjective
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of, relating to, or constituting a city or town
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living in a city or town
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(of music) emerging and developing in densely populated areas of large cities, esp those populated by people of African or Caribbean origin Compare rural
Other Word Forms
- antiurban adjective
- nonurban adjective
- semiurban adjective
- unurban adjective
Etymology
Origin of urban
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin urbānus, equivalent to urb- (stem of urbs ) “city” + -ānus adjective suffix; -an
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.
In theory, transportation systems could connect buildings—and even clusters of buildings—moving people sideways and up-and-down through large complexes, campuses or dense urban districts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
Without current data, millions of urban migrants - often in informal jobs and housing - remain poorly captured in policy design, a gap laid bare during the pandemic.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
And belying urban legends, there was no link to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve or the death of computing pioneer Alan Turing.
From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026
The state has struggled to keep up with demand, largely due to the lingering impacts of decades-long missteps in housing policies, said Paavo Monkkonen, a professor in urban planning at UCLA.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2026
As described in chapter 1, during the late 1970s, jobs had suddenly disappeared from urban areas across America, and unemployment rates had skyrocketed.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
