downtown

1 of 2

adjective

down·​town ˌdau̇n-ˈtau̇n How to pronounce downtown (audio)
1
: of, relating to, or located in the lower part or business center of a city or town
2
: hip, trendy
downtown music
downtown adverb

downtown

2 of 2

noun

: the lower part of a city or town
also : the main business district or central part of a city or town
downtowner noun

Examples of downtown in a Sentence

Adjective the downtown clientele of this bistro come to be seen, and the food is only an afterthought
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The biggest projects will be downtown, such as the 431-unit West building on Union Street, requiring a large labor force to get everything done. Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Jan. 2024 Doug Robson's downtown Mexican joint remains a standby. Jill Cassidy, The Arizona Republic, 16 Jan. 2024 In November, Kohl’s opened a new store in the downtown Milwaukee area and initiated its Black Friday deals weeks before Black Friday. Ricardo Torres, Journal Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2024 The Culinary Nearly half of Claremont’s 80 restaurants are downtown, ranging from traditional college-town fare (pizza, burgers, tacos and frozen yogurt) to international cuisine. Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee, 25 Jan. 2024 And there are fewer people downtown during the workday — even though nights and weekends are bustling. Detroit Free Press, 3 Jan. 2024 In 1866, my mother’s great-grandparents Eugene and Mary Robinson Bremond bought a house and property on a hill overlooking the Colorado River, in what’s now downtown Austin, Texas. David Owen, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2024 Elo-Rivera suggested last January that San Diego lobby the state to lift a 50-year-old ban on pay toilets so the city could generate revenue to pay for more downtown public restrooms. David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Nov. 2023 To help relieve congestion, a spokesperson for LADOT said the Commuter Express bus service will be free; its buses head directly downtown from areas such as the northeast San Fernando Valley, Thousand Oaks, the South Bay, Long Beach and others. Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 2023
Noun
The lion’s downtown visit triggered immediate love from the public, which started posting a flurry of memes that started with hilariously absurd sightings of the cougar surfing near the Oceanside Pier or attacking an In-N-Out burger. Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2024 On April 8, from noon until 4 p.m., the Museum of Science and Technology will host a free, family-friendly solar eclipse festival in downtown Syracuse. Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, 15 Mar. 2024 Seconds later, the train doors open at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station near downtown Brooklyn as the two men fight once more. Jeff Winter, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024 In a near-abstract downtown emptied out by the pandemic, Bay executed his most liberated piece of Bayhem, a post-bank-heist chase movie that doubles down on its own heightened sense of ridiculous at every turn. Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024 Originally named the Valley Center by the Valley National Bank, this 40-story tower was erected in downtown Phoenix, situated on Central Avenue and Van Buren Street. Kira Caspers, The Arizona Republic, 13 Mar. 2024 Fiserv joins Milwaukee Tool, others with downtown investments Since 2020, companies that are relocating or opening new offices are bringing more than 7,000 jobs to the downtown area, according to the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District. Tom Daykin, Journal Sentinel, 4 Mar. 2024 But the downtown two-story brick building was bustling recently, even without customers around. Jeff Brady, NPR, 4 Mar. 2024 The buses split up as their terrified drivers tried to turn onto narrow downtown streets that led back to the highway, but police cars managed to stop most of them. Alma Guillermoprieto, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'downtown.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1845, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of downtown was in 1837

Dictionary Entries Near downtown

Cite this Entry

“Downtown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/downtown. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

downtown

1 of 2 adverb
down·​town ˌdau̇n-ˈtau̇n How to pronounce downtown (audio)
: to, toward, or in the main business district

downtown

2 of 2 adjective
-ˌtau̇n
: situated downtown

More from Merriam-Webster on downtown

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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