Meaning & use
detached homes
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Meanings
nounplural
Houses that stand alone, with their own walls on every side and no shared walls with neighbors.
Grammar: Always plural in this form; the singular is 'detached home' or, more commonly in British English, 'detached house'.
Patterns
- live in a detached home
- a row of detached homes
- buy a detached home
They sold their apartment and moved into a detached home with a big yard.
Most of the detached homes on this street were built in the 1970s.
A detached home usually costs more than a townhouse in the same area.
nounpluralbusiness
A type of housing where each building is separate, often used when talking about property types in real estate.
Grammar: Common in real-estate listings and housing surveys, often contrasted with semi-detached or terraced housing.
Patterns
- detached homes for sale
- the market for detached homes
- prices of detached homes
The report compares prices for detached homes and apartments across the city.
Detached homes for sale in this neighborhood rarely stay on the market long.
New detached homes are being built on the edge of town.
Word forms
| singular | detached home |
|---|
Common combinations
- detached home
- They bought a detached home near the park.
- semi-detached home
- A semi-detached home shares one wall with the house next door.
- detached house
- In Britain, a detached house is seen as a sign of success.
- detached property
- The agent specializes in detached properties in the countryside.
- newly built detached homes
- Newly built detached homes often come with modern heating systems.
Synonyms and how they differ
- single-family home
- Used mainly in American English for a house for one family, which is usually detached but can also be semi-detached.
- villa
- A grander or holiday home, often detached, but the word suggests a style or location rather than just the building type.
- stand-alone house
- A general descriptive phrase; it emphasizes that the house is not joined to another, but it is less common in real-estate listings.
Opposites
Word family
- detached adjective
- Separate or not joined to anything else.
- detachment noun
- The state of being separate, or a feeling of not being involved.
- semi-detached adjective
- A house joined to one other house by a shared wall.
Commonly confused: detached homes or semi-detached homes? detached homes or townhouses?
detached homes vs semi-detached homes
These share one wall with a neighboring house, while detached homes have no shared walls at all.
detached homes vs townhouses
Townhouses are usually joined in a row, so they are not detached.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'detached homes' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Detached homes' is plural and describes houses that stand alone, so they often have their own garden. Option An and D use the plural incorrectly with 'a', and option B describes semi-detached or terraced houses, not detached ones.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “detached homes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.