bungalow
Americannoun
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bungalows
plural
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a cottage of one story.
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(in India) a one-storied thatched or tiled house, usually surrounded by a veranda.
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(in the U.S.) a derivation of the Indian house type, popular especially during the first quarter of the 20th century, usually having one and a half stories, a widely bracketed gable roof, and a multi-windowed dormer and frequently built of rustic materials.
noun
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a one-storey house, sometimes with an attic
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(in India) a one-storey house, usually surrounded by a veranda
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bungalow
First recorded in 1670–80, bungalow is from the Hindi word banglā literally, of Bengal
Explanation
A bungalow is a little house. If you’re not ready for the three-story house in the suburbs just yet, you might try living in a bungalow. The word bungalow was originally used to describe the temporary houses set up by English sailors traveling to India to work for the East India Company. These little houses were often just one story high with a thatched roof. Nowadays, the word bungalow can be used to describe any one story house. Think of the little cabin you slept in at summer camp — that’s a kind of bungalow.
Vocabulary lists containing bungalow
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"Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began" by Art Spiegelman
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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.
See Examples For:
While the rest of the cast would party on location in Fiji after a day’s work, Cregger, who’d gotten sober, would go back to his bungalow and work on a script.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
A chic bohemian bungalow for her and her three-legged cat Zsa Zsa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
She sold the adorable Victorian bungalow 13 years later for $950,000.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
"I think she is still in shock. I feel so bad for her," she said, adding the bungalow was now "a shell".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The old colonial bungalow with its deep verandah and Doric columns, was surrounded by smaller, older, wooden houses—ancestral homes—that the hotel chain had bought from old families and transplanted in the Heart of Darkness.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
He later outfitted his island escape with a Balinese-style villa and bungalows, creating a private getaway worthy of a Hollywood mogul.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
People have been evacuated after a large fire involving five bungalows in south Wales.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
With Craftsman bungalows and tree-lined streets, the city still epitomizes suburban U.S.A. — but now has a hip new twist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Although many houses are modest bungalows, high-end homes can top $3 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
A bunch of lights publicized the New Motel, which proved to be, as the travelers neared it, an impressive compound consisting of bungalows, a garage, a restaurant, and a cocktail lounge.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
