urban

[ ur-buhn ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designating a city or town:

   densely populated urban areas.

2. living, located, or taking place in a city:

   urban rooftop gardening.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

urban

/ ˈɜːbən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or constituting a city or town
2. living in a city or town
3. (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 Words From

• anti·urban adjective
• non·urban adjective
• semi·urban adjective
• un·urban adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of urban¹

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin urbānus, equivalent to urb- (stem of urbs ) “city” + -ānus adjective suffix; -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of urban¹

C17: from Latin urbānus, from urbs city

Example Sentences

This is a factor that urban planning models already take into account.

From Science Daily

The authors said the urban experiences of P41, P22 and others in the study illustrate how, when faced with increased human activity, mountain lions actively seek to avoid people rather than becoming habituated to them.

From Science Daily

"When it comes to urban heat resilience, humidity matters as much as temperature or shade provisions," Lee said.

From Science Daily

As for other notable wins, Karol G won urban album for “Mañana”; Draco Rosa took home two awards, for rock/pop album and rock song; and Taubert was crowned best new artist.

From Los Angeles Times

That flash point foretells an America becoming more polarized the hotter things get, more sharply divided between its rural and urban communities and more hateful and more dangerous.

From Salon

Related Words

• civic
• civil
• downtown
• metropolitan