Suburban Meaning
/səˈbɜː(ɹ)bən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjRelating to or characteristic of or situated on the outskirts of a city; of or relating to suburbia or the suburbs.
nounA person who lives in a suburb.
Sentence Examples
Cars are indispensable to suburban life.
Dan was assigned to patrol a suburban area.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ neighborhood had tree-lined streets and a local park for children.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Life in a ____ neighborhood is often much quieter and slower than life in the middle of a large city.
Word Origin & History
From Latin suburbanus, from prefix sub- (“under”) + urbs (“city”) + -anus (“adjective suffix”), equivalent to sub- + urban.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Suburban villas, highway-ſide retreats, / That dread th' encroachment of our growing ſtreets, / Tight boxes, neatly ſaſh'd, and in a blaze / With all a July ſun's collected rays, / Delight the citizen, who gaſping there, / Breathes clouds of duſt and calls it country air."
— 1782, William Cowper, “Retirement”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 282:
"Not only has suburban life separated the great concentrated masses of our people from their birthright of meadows, fields and woods; of Nature, in her untamed splendour and mystery, most of them have never had so much as a momentary glimpse."
— 1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, London: Longmans, Green and Co., page 13:
"They form part of the vast electrification and reconstruction schemes which have been in hand for a number of years at Liverpool Street, and in suburban Essex, and include the rearrangement of tracks, of which the Ilford flyover forms part; the modern signal boxes, now needed only at key points; the electric control or sub-stations; and a large electric car shed."
— 1951 January, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Essex and Hertfordshire”, in Railway Magazine, page 44:
"Tiffany Henyard’s tumultuous tenure as mayor of south suburban Dolton is coming to an end, and voters were very clear about ousting her."
— 2025 February 25, Gabriel Castillo, Jenna Barnes, Ben Bradley, Michael Johnson, Erik Runge, “Defeated in Dolton: Trustee Jason House beats incumbent Mayor Tiffany Henyard by landslide in primary”, in WGN-TV, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2025:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ neighborhood had tree-lined streets and a local park for children.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Life in a ____ neighborhood is often much quieter and slower than life in the middle of a large city.