as in apartments
a room or set of rooms in a private house or a block used as a separate dwelling place
an exhibit of pictures showing the tenements of the New York City neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen during the 1920s
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Recent Examples of tenements
German Jews—my people—were far less numerous, most of them came to the United States earlier, and their typical first occupation was peddling, which entailed wandering through non-Jewish areas, not living in tenements.
—
Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026
The tenements featured in Marty Supreme of course replicated those from the 1950s.
—India Roby, Architectural Digest, 27 Feb. 2026
More than half a million residents live in NYCHA development plagued by chronic mold, broken elevators, and heating failures; others reside in subpar tenements run by crooked landlords.
—Darius Jones, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2026
There’s a row of five-story buildings off Fifth Avenue in Park Slope that seem to fit the neighborhood standard for prewar, working-class tenements — a central staircase divvying up ten dark railroad apartments.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 2 Jan. 2026
The grotty tenements of the Lower East Side — and the distinct fashion within — is as much of a character in A24’s drama as the eponymous ping pong player himself.
—Anna Tingley, Variety, 27 Dec. 2025
The streets, tenements, fire-escapes, the elders, and the urgent concerns of childhood—or, rather, the helpless intensity of anguish with which one watches one’s childhood disappear—are rendered very vividly indeed by Louise Meriwether, in her first novel, Daddy Was a Number Runner.
—Literary Hub, 22 Dec. 2025
Also, bamboo scaffolding is ubiquitous in the city, used not only in the construction of new buildings, but also in the renovation of thousands of historic tenements every year.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 26 Nov. 2025
Teachers gravitated to a book in one of our exhibits, Sermons and Addresses by Abraham Lincoln, that originally belonged to Parthenia Lawrence, a Black teenager who lived in the tenements during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
—Annie Polland, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026
The tenements featured in Marty Supreme of course replicated those from the 1950s.
—India Roby, Architectural Digest, 27 Feb. 2026
More than half a million residents live in NYCHA development plagued by chronic mold, broken elevators, and heating failures; others reside in subpar tenements run by crooked landlords.
—Darius Jones, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2026
There’s a row of five-story buildings off Fifth Avenue in Park Slope that seem to fit the neighborhood standard for prewar, working-class tenements — a central staircase divvying up ten dark railroad apartments.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 2 Jan. 2026
The grotty tenements of the Lower East Side — and the distinct fashion within — is as much of a character in A24’s drama as the eponymous ping pong player himself.
—Anna Tingley, Variety, 27 Dec. 2025
The streets, tenements, fire-escapes, the elders, and the urgent concerns of childhood—or, rather, the helpless intensity of anguish with which one watches one’s childhood disappear—are rendered very vividly indeed by Louise Meriwether, in her first novel, Daddy Was a Number Runner.
—Literary Hub, 22 Dec. 2025
Also, bamboo scaffolding is ubiquitous in the city, used not only in the construction of new buildings, but also in the renovation of thousands of historic tenements every year.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 26 Nov. 2025
Teachers gravitated to a book in one of our exhibits, Sermons and Addresses by Abraham Lincoln, that originally belonged to Parthenia Lawrence, a Black teenager who lived in the tenements during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
—Annie Polland, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenements
Noun
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Cheshire and Simsbury at various times have stopped work on Vessel projects in their towns, and the state Department of Administrative Services last year gave Vessel a lot of concerns about the company’s nearly complete Rocky Hill apartments.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
30 Mar. 2026
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The assistant property manager of the Temple Crossings apartments told CBS News Philadelphia the restaurant had a grand opening earlier this year but closed because the owners, a married couple, had a baby.—
Matt Cavallo,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In total, 80 Clarkson will have just 112 residences, ranging from two-bedroom to sprawling seven-bedroom homes, with options that include duplexes, half floors, full floors, and penthouses.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
23 Mar. 2026
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Recently, the council approved a plan to demolish the Regal Edwards Big Newport theater, creating space for twin 22-story residential condos and penthouses.—
Erika I. Ritchie,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tenements.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenements. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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