Meaning & use
neighborhood
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A part of a town or city where people live, usually with its own character and a sense of community.
Grammar: Countable: a quiet neighborhood, two neighborhoods. British spelling is neighbourhood.
Patterns
- in the neighborhood
- a neighborhood of something
We moved to a quiet neighborhood with lots of trees.
The neighborhood has a bakery, a small park, and a bus stop.
She grew up in a rough neighborhood on the east side.
nounsingular
The people who live in such an area, thought of as a group.
Grammar: Treated as one unit with a singular verb: the whole neighborhood was invited.
Patterns
- the whole neighborhood
- a neighborhood association
The whole neighborhood came out to watch the parade.
News of the new bakery spread through the neighborhood quickly.
The neighborhood organized a cleanup day.
nounidiominformal
Near or approximately, used in the phrase in the neighborhood of when talking about an amount.
Grammar: Fixed phrase: in the neighborhood of a number, meaning about that number.
Patterns
- in the neighborhood of something
The repairs will cost in the neighborhood of two thousand dollars.
He earns something in the neighborhood of fifty thousand a year.
Word forms
| plural | neighborhoods |
|---|
Common combinations
- safe neighborhood
- They wanted to raise children in a safe neighborhood.
- neighborhood watch
- The neighborhood watch noticed a stranger on the street.
- residential neighborhood
- The factory closed and the area became a residential neighborhood.
- neighborhood school
- Most children attend the neighborhood school.
- in the neighborhood
- Is there a pharmacy in the neighborhood?
- friendly neighborhood
- It is a friendly neighborhood where everyone says hello.
Synonyms and how they differ
- district
- District is a more official or administrative word for an area, while neighborhood stresses that people live and know each other there.
- community
- Community focuses on the people and their bond and does not need a defined place, unlike neighborhood.
- locality
- Locality is a formal, neutral word for a place and its surroundings, with no suggestion of friendliness.
- area
- Area is the vaguest of the group and can cover any size of place, whereas neighborhood is small and residential.
Word family
- neighbor noun
- a person who lives next to or near you
- neighboring adjective
- located next to or near
- neighborly adjective
- friendly and helpful to those who live nearby
- neighborliness noun
- friendly behavior toward people nearby
Commonly confused: neighborhood or neighbor?
neighborhood vs neighbor
A neighbor is one person who lives close by. A neighborhood is the whole area where several neighbors live.
Practice
The ___ is so friendly that people leave their doors unlocked.
Choose one answer.
We need a noun for an area, and neighborhood fits. Neighbor is one person, and the other two are adjectives that do not follow the.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “neighborhood”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.